


Feral

by Pandorah



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A/B/O, AU, Alien Biology, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bottom Shiro, Keith is black paladin, Kuron is Shiros twin, Lots of plot, M/M, Made Up Science, Mating, New Planet, New Race, Porn With Plot, Sex, Shiro is a feline alien, Smut, Switch Couple, Top Keith (Voltron), alien technology causing problems, bond marks, in the background mostly - Freeform, rim jobs, sex in public, sex outside, the atmosphere causes Keith's Galra genes to emerge, though they do switch, time pockets, vers couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-07-29 11:03:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20081137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandorah/pseuds/Pandorah
Summary: Keith is returning from a mission for the Blades of Marmora and gets caught up in a white light. The next thing he knows he's crash landing on a jungle planet. After crawling from his wrecked ship, some aggressive creatures show up to make a meal of him. Before they can, a large man with cat ears and a tail show up and save him.





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> This story is finished but I'll be releasing the chapters once a week, or faster depending on reactions. Chapters vary in length.
> 
> I really wanted hot tiger man Shiro so I had to write this as the idea just would not leave me alone. I hope you all like it!

Having just completed a solo scouting mission, Keith was flying his ship back to the Blades of Marmora base where he was to meet up with Kolivan. He had gone out to a Galra base located on a meteor that was far away from anything else so if something happened he was alone.

Something happened.

The flight back had been going smoothly with no Galra chasing him but something crashed into his ship. Then another and another and Keith was struggling to keep his ship under control but it was impossible. One of the hits took one of the wings clean off the ship and he was currently spinning out of control. He tried using the boosters to even himself out but they were not responding. He tried calling for help to any Blades that were nearby but he only received static in response. The ship controls were all red and an alarm was sounding alerting to pending impact. Keith could not see anything around him, not what had hit him in the first place, or where he may be crashing.

Suddenly the cockpit filled with light and he had to close his eyes against it.

He slowly opened his eyes and then let out a string of curses as there was suddenly a planet in front of him and he was going down. It was a heavily forested area and the trees were so big that they were already hitting him even though he was still hundreds of feet off the ground. He bounced off from one into another and down, down, down until he finally crashed into the ground. The alarms were going off and there was smoke so he knew there was a fire. He had to get out of the ship as quickly as possible in case there was an explosion.

It took him a few minutes to hack away the branches from around the front of the ship in order to climb through the broken window. His foot caught on a branch and made him fall into some broken shards which sliced through his suit and cut him up. He rolled across the front of the ship and landed on the ground with a groan. The air was heavy with humidity and the ground was damp under him. There were brightly colored plants and flowers around him that were enormous and some equally bright colored birds flew over head. Vines hung from the trees like snakes and the thick canopy of the trees did not allow too much light down on the ground where he was, making it look like dusk. He'd crashed on some jungle planet.

He had just started getting to his feet when he heard movement around him and less than a second later, beasts he'd never seen before were lunching out of the brush towards him. They reminded him of hyenas but they were scaly instead of furry and had a lot more teeth. He pulled his blade just in time to defend himself against the first one that attacked.

"I don't need this right now!" He growled out as he fought the attackers.

They were fast but thankfully he was fast enough himself to keep from getting any serious injuries. The wound in his side was starting to make itself more known as it began to bleed more heavily and he was starting to feel a bit light headed from the blood loss. He jumped and rolled out of the way as two of the beasts leapt at him and before he could get back to his feet, he was slammed into the ground from behind, his blade flying out of his hand as he lost balance. A mouth full of teeth snapped down towards his face and he quickly pushed at the beasts chest trying to get it off of him. He took a chance and let one hand go in order to punch it in the face but it quickly turned it's head back and then clamped it's teeth around his forearm.

"Gaah!" he yelled in pain and then found himself being thrown through the air and slammed into the side of the ship. "Sh-shit." His vision swam and his sight went blurry before everything went black.

Keith didn't know for how long he was unconscious, but when he woke up he was on his back on the ground staring up at the trees while the sounds of someone fighting was nearby. He slowly tried to sit up but let out a yelp of pain and immediately lay back down. He looked down at his side where he was injured and saw that blood was still flowing heavily from the wound. His arm where he was bitten was bleeding pretty good too but that one was not life threatening. Again he tried to get up but only managed to sit up and lean back against the ship in order to catch his breath.

Turning his head he looked towards the direction of the fighting. There was a pack of four of the hyena like beasts circling a humanoid figure. The figure wore a mask and was covered by a large cloak hiding anything that would identify who or what they were, however he could see that they were much bigger than he was. A long spear was held in their hand as they swung at the creatures and they easily dodged out of the way of all attacks. Whoever it was that was fighting was highly skilled. Keith watched as the figure took down all four of the creatures in an instant without receiving a single wound themselves. His eyes suddenly widened in shock as what looked to be a tiger came out of the woods. It looked similar to an Earth tiger except that it had a large horn in the middle of its forehead and was the size of a rhino.

"Look out!" Keith yelled out as the cat like creature advanced towards the figure. The figure turned to him when he called out and quickly made their way towards him, completely ignoring the giant beast coming up behind them."It's right behind you!"

The figure stopped and turned towards the beast and said something Keith did not understand, the voice smooth and deep. He watched as the beast came to a stop and simply sat down and stared at him. The figure then came over to him and knelt down beside him. Their hands moved over him checking his side for a moment before they slid their arms under him and lifted him right up off the ground easily with one arm, holding him over one of their shoulders. He could feel their muscled body under him confirming that this person was male.

"O-ow, shit!" Keith grit his teeth as hot pain surged through his body at being moved. "What are you doing?!"

The sounds of odd barking could be heard and the figure let out a string of words Keith was pretty sure were curses. Holding him tightly, they ran over towards the beast who lowered itself down to the ground so they could throw Keith over it like a sack. The man quickly climbed up after him and held on as the beast took off. Keith let out a startled yelp and grabbed fist fulls of the thick fur of the creature he was now being carried on. As the beast bounded through the woods, his wound was hit again and again and soon the pain was too much that he once again fell unconscious.

This time when Keith opened his eyes he was smart enough not to try and sit up right away. He was again lying on his back but instead of the ground outside he was on some kind of soft bedding inside of a cave. There was a fire burning nearby that cast a warm glow around the area and he could make out simple furnishings like a chair, small table, and a rack that held meat cooking by the fire. There were plants hanging from the ceiling to dry and a stand set up to one side with a skin on it in the process of being worked into leather.

The next thing he noticed was that he was completely naked, a blanket over him for modesty, and had fresh bandages wrapped around his middle and one around his arm where he had been bitten. He felt no pain but only a warmth and slight tingling sensation. There was a mortar and pestle beside him with various plants and he assumed that whoever had saved him had made medicine and patched him up. Remembering what happened, he looked around for his savior. While he did not spot the figure from before, he immediately saw the large cat sitting by what he assumed to be the entrance to wherever this place was. It was watching him but made no move towards him when he slowly sat up.

"Er, hello?" At that the cat did slowly stand up and then went out the entrance. "Okay then." He looked down at himself and touched his side where the large wound was and still felt no pain from it. He eyed the plants beside him and wished that he could identify them.

"You should not be moving so soon." the male voice from before spoke from directly beside him.

The voice startled Keith and his head whipped around to look to the door. He hadn't even heard him come in and he was standing right beside him looking down at him.

He no longer wore the large cloak that concealed his body or the mask that hid his face and so Keith could see him better. The man had solid white hair and a scar stretched across the bridge of his nose under storm colored eyes. Those eyes were watching him warily but also held curiosity. Black stripes covered his skin from his neck, down his arms, and down the sides of his torso that Keith could see. It appeared his legs were also covered with the same markings and his bare feet were clawed. He wore a simple garment made of leathers that covered his lower half but that was all he currently wore. He was covered in muscle from fighting and hard work and it was surprising that the man could still move with the grace of a feline. Then again, seeing the rounded ears on his head and a long white with black striped tail swishing behind him, maybe not so surprising.

When Keith's eyes finally went back up to the man's face, he was flushing. The man was gorgeous and Keith had not realized that he'd been staring. He cleared his throat a bit awkwardly.

"You are the one from before. Thank you for saving me." he said, a flush to his own cheeks.

He squatted down and grabbed a container from nearby and shoved it into his hands. "Drink."

Keith took the container and sniffed it before taking a drink. It was incredibly pure tasting water. "My name is Keith, who are you?"

The man looked him over slowly for a moment before sitting down crossed legged beside him and picking up the mortar and pestle to begin grinding plants. "Shiro. I saved you from the metal thing."

Metal thing? Has he never seen a ship before? That can't be good. Keith thought with a frown. "So your name is Shiro? And what about them?" he pointed at the large cat.

"Briar saved you from being Drognak food."

"Thank you Briar." the cat just blinked slowly at him. "Do you think I could get my clothes back? I need my communicator to contact my friends."

Shiro did not say anything but he got to his feet and went over to the fire. He came back a moment later with a plate with a piece of hot meat on it and what looked to be some kind of purple fruit. "Eat so you get stronger. Drink." he nodded at the container.

Keith was frowning again but took the offered plate.

"Eat."

Deciding he didn't want to risk insulting or making his rescuer angry, Keith picked up the meat with his fingers and tore off a piece with his teeth. It was tender and juicy and practically melted in his mouth. He made a pleased sound and took another bite only now realizing that he had been pretty hungry. "Hunk would be jealous to learn I had something this good. Oh, Hunk is one of my friends." he added when he had tilted her head. He tried the purple fruit like food and the juices squirted in his mouth. It was a bit similar to grapes but then changed flavor twice as he continued to chew it. He had to bring some of this back to Hunk! "This food is amazing."

Shiro smiled as he watched him ate. "Eat lots, you are small."

Keith nearly choked on his food and felt his cheeks heat. He hadn't had someone call him small for awhile now. While he was not big and buff like Shiro he was by no means small for his age. He'd put on a lot more muscle since joining the Blades full time and he had grown quite a bit as well. He wondered who he was being compared to if he considered him to be small. Then again, Shiro himself was large and if the others were like him then he would be considered a runt.

Shiro went back over to the fire and used his blade to cut off another chunk of meat which he popped into her own mouth. He cut off another much larger chunk and threw it across the room where Briar instantly caught it. He then licked the blade off before sliding it back into it's sheath at his side. He kept his eyes on Keith as he moved about the room to where his weapons were. He sat down at the chair nearby and began to sharpen the blade at the end of his spear.

"Can I please have my clothes back?" he tried again and this time patted his chest trying to show what he meant. "I need my clothes."

Shiro stared at him for a moment before he set his spear on the table and got up to poke around at something out of sight. When he came back he did have Keith's clothes in his arms which he dropped onto his lap. "Be careful of your wound." he went and sat back down at the table and picked his weapon back up to finish sharpening the blade.

Keith looked around for somewhere to change but it was only one room. He would have to change in front of him then he realized he'd already seen him naked considering he stripped him down in the first place. He stood up and let the blanket fall, a blush on his cheeks, but he looked behind him and saw that he wasn't paying any attention to him. It's not like he'd never change in front of someone before, but it was awkward when you didn't know them. He quickly pulled on his clothes and stretched a bit once he was finished. His side still felt fine. He walked over to him slowly so as to not make him feel threatened, his hands visible.

"Do you have the rest? I need my armor and my knife so I can get back to my ship."

"What is a ship?"

The fact that he didn't know what a ship was was very worrying. "My ship. It is the metal thing that I was in. I was flying up in space and something hit me and made me crash here. I need to get back to it so I can contact my friends so I can get back to my base. I was on an important mission and there are people waiting for me."

Shiro was quiet for a moment as he once again studied him. Grey eyes locked with his for a long moment before he spoke. "Your ship thing is destroyed. The forest will have reclaimed it by now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I will show you tomorrow, it is too dangerous to go out at night." Satisfied with his work, Shiro set the spear aside and got up. He reached out and put his hand on Keith's side over his injury and pressed lightly. "How do you feel?"

He was startled at the sudden touch but he slowly relaxed. "I feel amazing. There is no pain at all, just a bit of tingling. Oh, woah!"

Shiro had grabbed his shirt and yanked it off of him fast enough that he did not have time to react. He then pushed him into the small table and ran his now lengthened claws over the bandage and ripped it off. He shivered at the feeling of the claws lightly dragging over his skin and he made sure not to move at all while he touched him. His claws retracted while he prodded at the wound with his fingers.

Keith let out a squeak and tried to move away when Shiro leaned down and slowly ran his tongue over the wound. "What are you doing?!" His tongue was a bit rough but it didn't hurt. The problem was that there was a very handsome man suddenly licking him.

"I have to make sure there is no infection and that the poison had left the wound." His hands were holding his hips tightly to keep him from moving. "Hold still." he then dipped his head and went back to licking him.

His face was now on fire and he couldn't help but squirm in his grip. He growled lowly in warning and the shiver that went through him was not from fear. He removed the bandage on his arm and licked that wound too but only a few strokes for that one. Thankfully the licking stopped after a minute and he stood up again and gave him a nod.

"The wound is clean and healing properly. Thankfully your body resisted the poison so you are not at risk of death. I am a bit surprised considering your size." Shiro poked at him before he pressed her palm flat to his abs before it slowly slid up his chest. "Are you considered in good health? I have never seen one of you before." His hand moved up his neck, fingers trailing across his cheek, and up further into his hair where his fingers brushed slowly through it.

His fingers were gripping the table he was leaning against, practically pinned there with his body, breathing fast and trying not to panic. He was not used to being touched like this but this man obviously was not familiar with what personal space was. He looked at him and saw a bit of worry in his eyes as he continued to thread his fingers through his hair. It was then that he figured out that Shrio was petting him. Having sensed his distress he was trying to calm him down. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out and then gave Shiro a soft smile.

"Thank you for taking care of me. I am sorry for any trouble I have caused."

Shiro stepped away from him after he calmed down and shrugged. "I was nearby on a hunt. I couldn't just ignore someone who needed help."

Keith looked down at his wound and his eyes widened at what he saw. The wound had been large before but it was already mostly closed and was healed enough that he would not need to put new bandages on. It had not even been a full day yet.

"How is this possible? It would have taken a full day in a pod to heal this!"

"Pod?" Shiro frowned. "I just made some medicine from levarra leaves and rock salamander poison."

"Poison?" he had mentioned that before but he had thought he'd misheard him. "Wouldn't that make it worse?"

"Any medicine in the wrong amounts can be deadly. This particular poison is great at bonding wounds and making them heal faster. Use too much though and it would kill you as it's very deadly." at the way his skin paled he just shrugged again. "You could have died either way so does it really matter? You are alive."

"I guess that's true." he prodded his side again and then pulled his shirt back on. "Will there be any side effects I should worry about?"

Shiro shook his head. "Just the occasional tingling until the poison has fully left your body, but I think you are past that stage now." He moved to the bed and picked up all his tools that were lying beside it to put away since they were no longer needed.

"I know you can't bring me to the ship now because it's dangerous but could I get the rest of my things? I would like to try and contact my friends and figure out how to get home."

Shiro put all the tools away into their proper places before he once again went to get something out of view. He pulled some things out of a large chest before bringing over the armful and passing it to Keith. He took his armor from him but he still held his blade. He was looking between that and Keith and seemed unsure.

"I understand if you don't want to give that back to me yet but I will need it back. It is very important to me."

He flipped the weapon into the air and caught it by the blade and held it out to him handle first. "It is beautiful."

Keith reached out slowly and took his blade from him, running his fingers lovingly over it before tucking it into it's sheath on his back. "Thank you, it belonged to my mother."

Something flashed in Shiro's eyes at the word mother and he turned away from him. "I need to go out. You stay here and rest. Eat more, drink more. You will heal faster." He headed for the door and told Briar to stand guard before he disappeared outside.


	2. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the flowers want to sniff you. And time to learn more about Shiro.

When Keith woke up in the morning he found Shiro working on the leather off to one side of the room. He had been awake most of the night he had not seen him come back which meant that Shiro had stayed away until he had finally given in to sleep. He could tell that he was still nervous and wary of him but he had trusted him enough to give him back his blade. Figuring out easily that he lived alone, he was surprised that he would trust him so fast. He was alien to him but he had already fought dangerous beasts to save him but had also taken the time to heal him. He reminded him of his Paladin friends and how they would always do whatever they could to help others even when it was dangerous. Thinking of them made him homesick. It had been months since he'd seen them last and he had been promising to visit them for awhile now. He decided that once he was able to leave this place he'd go and visit.

"There is food there. Eat." Shiro said over his shoulder to him, barely sparing him a look. "When you are done I can take you to your metal bird."

Once Keith had eaten and drank his fill, Shiro pulled on his cloak and mask, which Keith could now see was shaped like a tiger, grabbed her spear, then led Keith outside. He climbed up onto Briar's back and held a hand down to him. He hesitated a moment before climbing up behind him. He grabbed his arm and pulled him forward so that he was almost pressed against himself and put his hands on his waist.

"Hold on tightly with your legs and don't let go of me. We wouldn't want you falling off and hurting yourself." Shiro's voice held a teasing tone and there was a bit of a smirk on his lips before he turned away to face forward.

Giving a whistle, Briar took off like a bolt of lightning. Keith let out a yell as they went over the side of the ledge, the giant cat landing on rock platforms on the way down, until they finally reached the ground. Shiro was laughing openly at his reaction as they went down and it was a pleasing sound. Keith found himself laughing along with him a moment later. As they sped through the jungle, he quickly became used to the movements and was able to relax more. He was finding that he was really enjoying riding on Briar and was a bit disappointed when they reached the crash site so quickly.

The bodies of the Drognak were gone, only a bloody mess remained showing that they had been there, which was no surprise to Keith. There was always another predator around. What he was not prepared for, however, was the fact that his ship was completely covered in vines, grass, and moss as if it had been sitting there for decades. A tree was even growing up out of the cockpit window that was starting to grow some kind of fruit.

"How did this happen?" He asked as they slid down off of Briar's back. "I just crashed here yesterday!" he ran over to the ship and started pulling at the vines that were covering the door. He had to pull out his blade in order to start cutting through them. It was time consuming as they were as thick as his arm.

"Plant life grows quickly here." Shiro went over and poked the shuttle with his spear, making a face at the sound, then started helping Keith cut through the vines.

It took them at least an hour before they got enough of the vines removed so that Keith could get the door open and crawl inside. Thankfully there was not much damage to the inside despite all the plant growth with the exception of the cockpit. He made his way up front and found that everything was completely smashed and unusable. Nothing was responding. There was no way he would be able to repair the damage enough to make it usable even for just communication. He didn't even have the tools to do so even if he had the knowledge of how to do it. With a groan of frustration, he went and grabbed his bag from the storage area and climbed back out through the door.

"Are you going home now?"

"Not with this I'm not." Keith growled and kicked it. "Do you know anyone that might have something like this, or some other form of communicator I could use? Mine does not seem to be working properly." he tapped his wrist and the screen came up and he still wasn't getting any readings.

Shiro walked over to him and poked at the display only for his hand to go through it. "I have never seen such a thing before." He looked like he was going to say more but hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

"I have not seen one of these 'ships' before or something like what was on your arm, but I have seen a place that does not fit in with everything else. The walls are too smooth and square to be natural and there are odd symbols on the wall."

Keith's eyes lit with hope. "Could you please take me there?"

Shiro chewed on his lip. "It has been over a year since I was there. The forest may have completely reclaimed it by now. It was mostly covered when I was there last and it is in a very hard to reach place."

"Please, it may be my only clue as to how to get back home."

Shiro started muttering to himself and pacing back and forth for a few minutes before he came to a stop and nodded. "It should only take us a week to get there."

Keith's stomach dropped at that. He had hoped it would be in a day's travel from where they were, maybe two, but a week? The other Blades were going to assume that he was dead which meant no one would be out looking for him. The other Paladins would probably keep up hope for longer but he honestly didn't know for how long. He was often gone for long periods of time so they probably wouldn't even realize what had happened, assuming Kolivan even told them that Keith was missing. The only thing he could do was to hope for the best.

"When can we leave?"

"After I grab some supplies."

Once they had arrived back at Shiro's home he quickly went about getting supplies needed for the trip. He restocked the pouches that hung on his belt and inside his clothes while putting others in his bag. While he did that, Keith looked through his own bag to see what he still had left from his mission. He had a few dried food rations left but he was not worried about food considering that they were in a forest where they could hunt and scavenge if needed. He had rope, a small scanner, a canteen for water, and a few other supplies that were used in infiltration missions. He wasn't sure if anything he had would come in handy but he was bringing it all just in case he didn't get back here. He was hoping that he'd find something at the place they were heading that would allow him to leave quickly.

"Once we go outside of my territory it is going to be incredibly dangerous. You need to stay close to me and keep your guard up."

"I'm pretty good in a fight. You won't have to worry so much about me now that I'm healed."

"Don't underestimate the creatures here. This is a savage land and the creatures kill for more than just survival. Some of them hunt for the fun of it. If you expect to survive here for any amount of time, you cannot hold back at all. If you need to fight you need to strike to kill. If you don't, then you will die."

Keith recalled seeing the large number of scars that covered Shiro's body. If someone like him was that marked up, he knew that this was a dangerous place. He just had to hope that they would get lucky and he would be able to avoid as much fighting as possible. "Understood."

Having everything that they needed, the two of them mounted up on Briar, Keith once again sitting behind Shiro and holding on as best he could. He did his best to ignore the way that Shiro's muscles felt under his hands even with the cloak between them and his skin. They made their way down the ledge like before but headed in a different direction than where he had crashed. If his guess was right, they were heading in the direction of the large lake that he'd seen in the distance. Shiro confirmed when he asked.

For the most part Shiro was silent on their ride but he did answer any questions that Keith had for him if he could. He mostly asked about the local wildlife and plants as they passed by them or when they stopped to take breaks. The flowers and plant life here were beautiful and he found himself wishing that he had a way to take pictures of them so he could send them to Pidge. The trees around them were still bigger than any he had seen and he felt like he'd been shrunk down to the size of an ant in comparison to them.

The forest soon gave way to an endless field filled with flowers of all colors and sizes. A few different types of animals were wandering around in the field eating or soaking up the sun. Shiro slid down off of Briar and Keith did the same when she signaled to do so.

Shiro moved out into the field and scanned the area. "If you see a large purple flower with yellow spots, get as far away from it as you can. Otherwise, the rest of the plants here are fine and safe to touch."

Keith started keeping his eyes down to look out for the mentioned flower so he wouldn't accidentally step on it. There were a few paths through the flowers made by the animals so they followed one of those since it would be more safe. Briar was trotting along beside them occasionally chasing something she saw before going back over to them and making a happy noise. It was calm like this for the first half hour until they reached the middle of the field. At the same time the animals around them started to panic and Briar puffed up and started growling, Shiro let out a string of curses.

"What? What's wrong?" Keith asked as he looked around with wide eyes trying to figure out what was causing the panic. "Oh shit!" he yelled out as something grabbed him around the ankle and began dragging him away from Shiro and Briar. He looked down to see that it was a vine that was wrapped around him and he quickly pulled his blade and began to hack away at it. When he finally managed to cut through it, he had already been lifted up into the air. He landed on the ground hard with a groan.

A loud screeching sound was heard as the vine was cut away and Keith scrambled to his feet just as the ground burst open. More vines came shooting out and tried to grab him but he was fast enough to evade them. Any of them that got too close he slashed with his blade which sent them cringing away but only for a moment. Another screech sounded as the ground burst open as a large purple flower with yellow spots emerged from the ground. The flower was absolutely massive and could easily be the size of an elephant. The petals were lined with razor sharp teeth and there were dozens of vines swinging around and trying to grab anything nearby. It managed to grab one of the grazing animals that they had seen and pulled it under ground in an instant, a startled yelp the last Keith heard from it.

"Don't try and fight it, just run!" Shiro yelled out as she rode towards him on Briars back. When he was close enough he leaned down and grabbed his hand to pull him up onto the tigers back.

"When you said large flower this is not what I was expecting!" Keith yelled as they ran from the flower as it continued to try and grab them with its vines. He slashed one that managed to grab the bag he had brought then another that almost grabbed his leg again.

Briar stumbled a bit as she jumped around avoiding the vines but thankfully she did not fall. She ran as fast as she could through the rest of the field and did not stop until they reached forest again. Once inside the safety of the trees, Shiro slid off her and began to check for injuries.

"Are you injured?" Shiro asked while checking her pet over.

"It scratched me a little bit but nothing other than that." he watched as he knelt down to examine his leg where the vine had been wrapped around him. "Is everything okay?"

He pushed his pant leg up to look at his skin before giving a nod. "We should keep moving."

The three of them started walking deeper into the woods following a path that looked to be rarely used. Nothing had passed by this way for quite awhile at least and Keith wasn't sure if he should feel more relaxed or on edge because of it. They had just been attacked by a flower and he would rather not run into something else anytime soon if it could be avoided. So far he had been constantly attacked since he'd arrived here and now he was keeping his guard up. Everything was now considered a possible threat unless it shows otherwise. For all of the places he's been to in the universe, this was the first one where even the local plant life attacked you. He didn't understand how anyone could live in such a place. Though maybe it was not all as bad as this; he could have just crashed in a very bad area.

As they walked Keith kept an eye out for any signs of civilization or of any people themselves but he only saw more plants and animals. They never even came across any actual roads or signs of any kind to tell them where they were. He had not heard anything either aside from the usual nature sounds.

"Wow, you must really live out in the middle of nowhere if we haven't seen anyone else yet. How far are we from a village?"

"All of the villages are located on the other side of the chasm where it is safer. The farther away from there you go the more dangerous it gets. You are the first person that I have seen in a many years."

Keith stared at him in shock for a moment. "Wait, you're telling me that you live out here all by yourself in the most dangerous area? Why don't you live with your people where it is safe?"

"I am safer alone."

He waited for Shiro to elaborate on that but he remained silent. He frowned but decided not to press him for more information right now as it was obviously a painful topic. He wanted to take his mind off of his family so instead asked about Briar.

"So, how did you and Briar end up together?"

Shiro visibly relaxed at the change in topic and he smiled. "We saved each other. A few years ago we had a severe winter and almost everything was frozen over. It was hard trying to find food and a lot of animals were dying from the cold. Trying to eat one of them after they were frozen was like trying to eat a rock. I had wandered too far from my home when a blizzard hit. I took shelter under an out cropping to wait it out and tried to get a fire going to warm up but failed." he reached up and stroked the cats fur and Briar began to purr in response. "I sat down and put my hand on what I thought was a rock only to find her curled up in a ball and half frozen. She was still a kitten then and her survival instincts weren't much at the time. I pulled her into my clothes to try and warm her up and slowly she did. When she finally was warm enough that she woke up, she was able to use her ability and start a fire. After that, we stayed together and looked out for each other. I ended up making a new home not far from there hoping that the rest of her family would return but they had either died or moved on at that point."

Keith looked at the large cat who walked beside them and was still purring away. "How did she start a fire?"

"You don't know?" Shiro asked and blinked at him like it was obvious. "Briar is a fire tiger. They have the ability to create fire from their horns and they are fire proof. The really old ones are said to be able to turn into blazing balls of fire and fly, but I'm pretty sure those are just myths."

Again Shiro fell into silence but Keith really did not mind. He wasn't usually a chatterbox like Lance was but he was somewhere new and he was traveling with someone he knew nothing about. Learning quickly that Shiro was a more quiet type and did not want to tell too much about himself, Keith decided to hold back his other questions. He hoped that as they traveled and he came to trust him more that he would be more open with him but for now this was fine. He was still helping him despite knowing nothing about him and putting himself and Briar at risk to do so. When help came he would have to make sure that he was properly rewarded for the trouble.

As they continued through the dense jungle Shiro would occasionally climb up one of the large trees and disappear for a few minutes. He was curious as to what he was doing but learned soon that he was climbing up to keep checking their location to make sure they were still going in the right direction. With how fast the forest grew, it was easy to lose track of where you were going and end up getting lost.

"Could I go up with you this time?" Keith asked one of the times he'd stopped. "I'd love to get a better view of the area."

Shiro looked him over with a raised brow. "How would you climb in those?" he pointed to his boots, his own feet bare and his toes and fingers tipped with claws that helped him dig into things.

Keith answered by pulling off his own boots and setting them down with his bag. "I'm pretty good at climbing, even if I don't have any claws to help me." He pulled out his blade and threw it up into the tree, holding onto the cord tightly as he began to climb. "Race you to the top?"

Shiro grinned and leaped onto the tree and scrambled up the tree like a monkey. His claws allowed him to hold on tightly and he had no fear as he leapt from branch to branch as he made her way up. He easily passed Keith by but he kept up with him enough that he couldn't slow down or he'd pass him. He laughed as they jumped and moved around each other on the large branches and he gave him a smirk before he leapt out away from the tree to grab onto one of the thick vines and swung around the opposite side of the tree. He used his knife and cord to follow after him and nearly crashed into him on the other side. The vine and rope got tangled around them and it took them a moment to untangle each other while also trying not to slip off of the branch they were on. There were only a few branches left above them now and Keith dared not look down knowing how high up they must be.

"You are not bad at climbing, Keith." Shiro said, only slightly out of breath while Keith was panting. "Be careful up here. If you fall you will die." He walked out on the branch and out of the leaves that blocked their view of the surroundings.

Keith followed behind him more carefully so as not to slip. Thankfully the branches were still large and were plenty wide enough that they could stand side by side if they wanted and still have room for moving. Still, everything was wet and moss covered and it would only take a little slip to send him to his death. When he made it out onto the far end of the branch where Shiro was he pointed in the direction they were heading.

He could see the lake in the distance and even though they had traveled a long way already it did not look like they were any closer to it than before. He could, however, now make out the great chasm that Yvri had mentioned. It stretched in two directions as far as he could see, much like the Grand Canyon back home, except this one looked even bigger. He could see smoke rising up from it even at this distance and wondered what was inside of it. He could also just make out something very large and black sticking out of part of it; something that did not look to be natural.

"What is that thing?"

"We don't know nor do we know how long that it has been here. One day there was a big earth shake and the ground opened up. When everything stopped, that thing was sticking up out of the ground like that. The leader of the village forbid anyone to go anywhere near it and said that it is a cursed place. When people venture too close to it, things start to happen."

"Things like what?"

Shiro shrugged. "Some have had their heads start hurting, some have heard voices. One person claimed that they saw another turn into a beast and another disappeared. I don't believe any of it though. The tribe always has been very superstitious about things. This is no different."

Keith had never heard of anything causing any such instances but he didn't know enough to really have an opinion on it. Maybe if Pidge were here she would have ideas, or Coran with his vast amount of knowledge. He was really wishing that his friends were here with them now.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your tribe? I've never come across another species like you and I've seen many at this point."

Shiro reached up and scratched one of his furry ears. "The people here are called Felari and are a race who are very in touch with their bestial nature. They can be very protective of their families and kind, but sometimes they do nothing but fight each other." his voice as a near growl by the end and his hand was clenched into a hard enough fist that his knuckles were white. "They would rather cling to the past rather than learn and try to adapt to the changes around them. There used to be Felari everywhere but now there are only a couple hundred of them left."

Keith frowned. "Are you not a Felari then? You speak as if they are a different race."

"My father was a Felari but my mother was something else."

"Was she a human?"

Shiro shrugged. "I don't know, I never knew her. My dad said that when I was still an infant that she disappeared one day." He swung down to the branch below them. "We should keep moving while it is light out. We still have a long way to go."


	3. Day Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith teaches Shiro about the Paladins and the Blades of Marmora. Shiro tells him more about the Felari culture and what it means to be a Hunter.

Keith and Shiro stood beside a wide river looking at what remained of the bridge. Keith was glaring at the broken pieces of rope and wood that were preventing him from making this a faster trip than he'd like. If only he had a jet pack on this suit this would not be a problem. he may have to get one integrated into his Blades suit once he got back to the base. This was not the first time he found himself in need of one.

"If we follow along side it down stream we may come across a part that is not as dangerous. If you were to fall in here you would get swept away and probably drown." Shiro looked at the wooden posts that still stuck up in some areas from where the bridge was. He was confident that he would be able to jump across using them but Keith was small and weak and he doubted that the human would even make the first jump. Without claws to help, he was worse off than a kitten.

"Can't Briar swim us across? Or maybe jump from rock to rock?" Keith looked over to where Briar was sitting away from the water as far as possible.

"No, being a fire tiger makes her a bit weak in the water. It saps her strength and if she stays in too long she will become unable to move." Yvri patted Briar who was staying away from the edge of the water, her tail flicking with agitation. "If we find a narrow enough area she may be able to jump across, but not here with these rapids. I don't want to risk her falling in."

Deciding that he was not going to waste any more time standing around, Keith kicked off his boots before leaping off the bank and onto one of the big rocks sticking up out of the water where the bridge used to be anchored to.

"What are you doing?" Shiro yelled with wide eyes. "You're going to get yourself killed!" As soon as he'd seen Keith move he had tried to grab him but he just missed by inches. He wasn't sure if this human were brave or foolish; probably a combination of both.

Keith slowly stood up and balanced before he leapt to the next rock, his foot slipping a bit as he landed but he manage to catch himself before he fell off. "I don't have time to take the long way. I need to get home as soon as possible. Look for another way if you want. I can meet up with you down stream!" This time he leapt over and onto a large wooden beam that was sticking up with a few broken boards hanging off of it.

Shiro looked between Keith and Briar before he cursed and started after him. "Briar, meet us down stream!" he shouted to the cat who then took off down the river. "You better not fall in!"

No sooner had the words left his lips did Keith's foot slip again and this time he went down with a yelp as he hit the water. Thankfully the water wasn't very cold due to the hot temperature but being dragged down river and through rapids was not a fun experience. Shiro jumped into the water after him with no hesitation and managed to somehow catch up to him and the pair of them held onto each other tightly as they were carried along like a leaf. They managed to avoid slamming into any large rocks or other debris on the way, but the current was too strong for them to try to swim to shore and the water was deep enough that trying to stand was useless.

They startled some very large water fowl as they made their way down and at one point even slammed into something very large that was swimming in the water. It let out very angry bark like sound before it swam away like a seal. A few more swam past them and Keith brushed one as it passed by. It had been very soft but it did not appreciate being touched and had slapped him with it's finned tail. One of his cheeks turned red from it. He kept his hands to himself after that, made easier by the fact his other was wrapped around Shiro's waist to keep them from getting separated and so the other was used to try and keep himself up.

Shiro was laughing. "Must you continuously do things to put yourself in danger?" he said loud enough to be heard over the sound of the rapids.

"I thought it was friendly." Keith muttered, cheeks red from more than embarrassment. The cheek where he'd been hit was already welted up with strange marks from the creatures tail.

"Don't judge things by what they look like. Sometimes the cuter something is the more dangerous it is." Shiro rolled them in the water so he was on his back and Keith was over him. "Maybe it's not true for humans though." he winked.

Keith just stared at him with wide eyes. He wasn't sure if Shiro was trying to flirt with him or not, or if he should be insulted.

By the time they reached calmer water they were both exhausted from trying to keep their heads above the water. They slowly swam towards the bank and crawled out on shaking limbs before collapsing in the tall grass there. Shiro kept her arm around Keith's waist as he yanked him fully up onto the shore, then sat down on the ground with a huff. They had traveled at least two miles from where they had fallen in.

"Why must you be so impatient?" Shiro made a face as he took his cloak off and tossed it aside to deal with later. He cursed when he noticed that he had lost his spear somewhere on the way down. He scanned the water from where he sat but did not see it floating anywhere. He felt a pain in his chest at the loss of the weapon as it had held great importance to him just like Keith's blade had for him.

"I have people waiting for me. There is a war going on and the information I have can save thousands of people." Keith panted beside him and then realized he'd left his boots on the shore up river. Fantastic. At least his bag was still on his back so he wasn't entirely without supplies.

"What war?"

He stared at him. "Are you serious?" at his blank look he shook his head. "You are. How do you not know about the war with the Galra? They have been destroying or taking over planets for more than ten thousand years!" He sat up and wrung the water out of his hair and pulled at his clothes. With the humidity there was no way that they would be drying any time soon. Great.

"I have never seen anyone else here aside from Felari...until you arrived that is."

Keith pulled up his computer and began tell Shiro the history of the war, the Galra, the Blades of Marmora, and about Voltron. He listened silently with wide eyes, only asking a question here or there, as he showed him images and video. When he was done he had fallen silent in thought.

"The Galra...they look very similar to Felari. Felari come in all types of colors though nothing like purple, only natural colors. The cultures are very different and I don't think they would ever think of trying to take control of other planets even if they had the means to do so. They would never want to abandon their homes." Shiro looked at Keith then, a bit shy. "Would you...would you show me more? I want to know more about what is out there." He turned his face up to the sky as he asked. "I would love to see it someday."

Keith smiled as he began showing and telling him more things about the other worlds that he had seen and the people he had encountered. Shiro seemed very interested in seeing Earth and knowing more about him personally.

"So you were learning how to fly the ships before everything changed and now you fly a giant ship that looks like a cat." he poked at the image of the lions on his screen. "Do you think I could fly one? I am part Felari so I am connected to all other felines."

Keith chuckled. "I'm not sure that would help considering that this one is a machine."

"Right." his ears drooped a bit. "You also said that they pick their pals?"

"Paladins." Keith corrected, still smiling.

"Paladins. You were a paladin for both the red and now the black? You are also some kind of Blade and you go around saving people? You are amazing, Keith. I don't think even the strongest Felari warrior would stand a chance against you. You would have a place of high honor here among the Felari."

"N-not really." he felt his cheeks burning as Shiro said it with such admiration and confidence. "It's mostly just been luck and being in the right place at the right time."

"I don't believe that." Shiro got up and brushed himself off. "We should go. Briar will be waiting for us."

As they made their way down the river the two of them asked each other questions about various things. Shiro was very curious about everything and he was also being more outgoing and more relaxed around Keith. He was quickly finding that he enjoyed his company and he understood his sense of humor and laughed often. Thankfully they did not run into any trouble along the way and when they finally met up with Briar she greeted them with a loud meow and a very large dead animal of some kind at her feet. Keith got a fire going while Shiro prepared the meat to eat and they decided to set up camp here since it was getting late.

"What exactly am I eating?" Keith asked as he finished off the first piece of meat and grabbed another skewer. It tasted a bit like rabbit.

"It is a Mossback Hare. The meat is very nutritious and the fur makes for good winter clothing. The moss on its back is also medicinal." there was a small pile of moss sitting beside the fire drying. "It's good against a few types of poisons but none of the more serious ones unfortunately." Shiro pulled a small vial from a pouch and uncorked it then passed it to Keith. "Put some of this on the meat and try it again."

Keith sprinkled some of the ground up green stuff onto the meat he had and took another bite. "Wow, that is really good. Ah, and spicy!" he stuck his tongue out and started waving his hand in front of his face.

"Sorry, I should have warned you." Shiro said while laughing. "I didn't know you'd have such a sensitive tongue. This is really mild."

"It's good!" he took another bite only to repeat the fanning process again. His eyes were watering now too. "I don't think I can eat much of it at once though."

Shiro took the vial back and put some on his own meat before putting it away. "It will sharpen your sense of smell for awhile."

Keith laughed, "That's good because I certainly can't see now with how much my eyes are watering."

Shiro dug around in one of his pouches and this time pulled out a few small blue berries. "Eat these when you are done with that; they will help with the burning. Just a warning, they can bit a little sour." He popped one into his own mouth and his face screwed up before he stuck out his tongue.

Once he'd finished eating the meat, he did eat the berries he was given. He didn't find them to be that bad, at least not as bad as Shiro's reaction to them had him thinking they would be. "They taste like a candy I used to eat back home sometimes."

"You would eat things like that because you liked them?" he started licking the back of his hand trying to get the taste off of his tongue. He chugged some water next before licking his hand again.

Keith brought his hand to his own mouth but it was to hide a smile. He was acting very much like the cats back on Earth. It was adorable and he couldn't stop his reaction of reaching out and scratching behind one of Shiro's round ears. He jumped slightly in surprise and Keith realized what he was doing and yanked his hand away.

"S-sorry. I shouldn't have done that." His face flushed, almost a near constant state since meeting Shiro.

"It's okay, I was just surprised." he moved closer to him and brought a hand up to run his fingers through Keith's hair. "It feels nice, right? Your hair is so soft."

"Mm." his eyes fell shut a bit as his fingers played with his hair. His mother often did the same thing and he found it to be very relaxing.

"We should get out of our clothes."

"Huh?" Keith turned his head to look at him and their noses brushed. He cleared his throat awkwardly and leaned back a bit.

"If we hang them up by the fire they may be mostly dry by the morning. It is pretty humid though so I wouldn't count on fully dry." He got up and collected some large sticks from nearby and shoved them into the ground, then started removing his clothes. "Hang them here."

Keith was red in the face as he stripped down to his underwear and hung his Blades uniform up as best as he could. He did his best not to watch as Shiro removed the small amount of clothes that he was wearing. The man was gorgeous and built like an Adonis and it was impossible not to look. Keith's eyes traced the tiger markings along his body along with the scars and strange red markings, then he swallowed thickly when he caught a glimpse of what Shiro had to offer before he turned away. He lowered his head to his knees and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He wasn't wearing any clothes so any reactions he would have would be spotted immediately.

After Shiro stripped and hung his own clothing up, he went over and sat right beside Keith, close enough that their arms and legs bumped together when he first sat down. At hearing the smaller male suck in a breath, he looked at him a moment and then chuckled. He said nothing about the situation though to which Keith was relieved. Shiro rubbed his arms a bit before his hands idly began tracing the red marks on them, something he did often when they were visible.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do the marks mean?"

Shiro stopped tracing the marks when he spoke and held his arms out in front of him. "They show my status as a Warrior among the Felari. Each one of these marks represents a trial that I succeeded. When you complete them all you will have a mark here on your forehead and you will be a Hunter."

"That is a lot of trials." He thought his training with the Blades was hard and nearly impossible at times but for Shiro to have so many, he was very impressed.

He nodded. "We start training as soon as we can walk. It is an honor to become a Warrior for the tribe and and becoming a Hunter is a highly respected position. For most people anyway." Shiro saw the question in his eyes and sighed. "Since I am not full Felari there were many who objected me going through with the training. It is considered a sacred rite to them and they said that my presence would taint it. The Elder said that if I were weak that I would die so to let my fate be up to the Wild Mother. I took the first trial and I passed and received my first markings. Every month when the time for the trials started there would be people who would object but the Elder would say the same thing. 'If she is weak she will die. Let the Wild Mother decide her fate.' Every month I would pass the trial and get new markings." Shiro brought a hand up to his face and touched the double lines under his left eye. "I only had one more trial to complete before I would be recognized as a full Hunter of the tribe. The ones who had been objecting to me my whole life managed to chase me away before I could complete the last trial."

"Couldn't you have stayed and still done the trial? Surely the leader would have recognized you as strong enough at that point and stopped the others from attacking you like that." Keith felt himself becoming angry for him. To work so hard for so long only to be cast out like that. It wasn't right.

"I would have had to fight the ones who were objecting. While I was confident that I could beat them I did not want to harm my fellow tribesmen. We were all family and should look out for each other, not try and kill each other." he hung his head sadly. "If I had killed them and taken the trial, I know I would have passed just like all the other times. It would mean that I would have been recognized as a Hunter for the Wild Mother and that I would have power over the others who had not completed their training. If I stayed, they would have attacked me and kept going until they killed me. So I left."

"What is the difference between a Warrior and a Hunter?"

"A Warrior is one who is strong enough to fight and help guard the village. A Hunter is one who is even stronger and who has been blessed by the Wild Mother. They are the guardians and protectors of all. The trials are very difficult and test you in many different ways, not just your strength but by your cunning. I would have been the first Hunter in the last generation to be able to do it. There was another who was close to me in the ranking but he had been struggling when I left."

"So they resented you." Keith growled out and it had Shiro blinking down at him.

"Why are you so angry?" his hand moved to Keith's hair again, stroking it, and trying to calm him.

"Because what your tribe did to you, it is unforgivable. Your family are the ones who should be by your side the most. What makes it worse is that it sounds like no one stood up for you!" He turned so he was facing him and pulled him into a hug, unable to stop himself from doing so and providing him comfort.

Shiro made a sound of surprise as arms wrapped around him but soon he was melting into Keith. His arms wrapped around his body and his face nuzzled into his neck. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly as he took in his scent. He made a pleased sound and inhaled again and tried to wiggle closer to him even though they were already pressed together. The skin on skin contact felt comforting.

"Thank you for being angry for me but it's not necessary. I have accepted it and am fine with the way things are." he placed a kiss on his cheek before he got up and went to move the clothes around to help them dry.

Keith watched Shiro as he moved their clothes around, his eyes falling down for a moment as he became fascinated with his long tail. He thought at first that it was just like a regular cat tail in that it showed his mood, which he was unsure of since it was usually hidden by his cloak, but then he saw him use it to pick up his shirt he had dropped. He had full control and use of his tail. He could think of many ways that could be useful, especially in a fight. It would be like having a third hand. Or maybe for more intimate things but he quickly pushed that particular thought away.

"Shiro, can you fight using your tail?" He was too curious not to ask.

He turned to him with a laugh. "Yes, if I must. I can wield a knife with it and am pretty dexterous with it but it's not really strong enough to do lethal damage to something." He walked over to where his other things were and picked up his knife with his tail and began tossing it around and showing off for him. He resheathed it a moment later before walking over to stand in front of Keith, still completely naked and unashamed at being so. "Are you jealous of my tail?" he reached out and stroked Keith's cheek with it.

"Maybe a little." Keith reached up and gently grabbed his tail, stroking it as he pulled it away. He looked away, unable to face a naked Shiro being right in front of him. "It's so soft."

"I hate having stuff stuck in my fur so I make sure to take good care of it." the fur was short so he thankfully didn't have to worry about knots or tangles but that didn't mean that it was lower maintenance. "One time I ended up with a tail full of burrs. It took me three days to get all of them out."

Shiro flopped down on the grass again beside Keith and lay down on his back. He stretched out slowly and groaned a bit as his muscles relaxed, back arching as it worked down his spine. His eyes had shut while doing it and he cracked one open just in time to see Keith quickly turning his head away, cheeks flushed. He heard the other mutter something under his breath, which he heard clearly, and smirked. Did Keith really think he was being sneaky? Even if he was, there was no hiding that scent of arousal coming from him. He was interested in Keith as well but if the other was acting this way then it means he was denying it or maybe afraid for some reason. Shiro decided to ignore it until the other made up his mind.

The sky was darker now and the stars were starting to come out. The sky was just visible through the trees in the open space over the river. A lone Drognak howled somewhere in the distance, far enough away not to worry about. The pair had fallen into a comfortable silence, watching the fire and listening to the crackling of the wood as it burned. Keith pulled some of the dried rations from his bag and handed Shiro some of the meat to try.

He tore into the jerky quickly after the first taste and when he held out her hands for more, Keith chuckled and gave him what he had left. He pulled some kind of apple from her pocket and passed it to him. When Keith bit into it the juice exploded in his mouth, so much so that it dribbled down his chin a bit making Shiro chuckle. He was a bit sad that he didn't get more of it but he would know better for next time. Shiro pulled another one from his bag and used his knife to carefully cut part of the top off and handed it to him. He took it with a smile and tried the juice properly this time. It was sweet but not too much and it fizzed on the way down like it was carbonated.

"I call them fizz apples and they're my favorite." He took a bite of the fruit and made a pleased sound as he ate it. "They taste just as good preserved and dusted with sweet dust. I just wish they were easier to get." he licked her fingers off when he had finished.

"Thank you for sharing with me." Keith flopped backwards into the grass beside him and let out a long yawn.

"Go ahead and get some sleep. Briar will alert us if anything happens."

"Mm, I think I will." Before he fell into deep sleep he thought he felt Shiro's hand bushing though his hair and heard words that were whispered too softly to understand.


	4. Day Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curiosity almost enough to kill a cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have a second chapter for today!

Keith woke up the following morning just as the sun was starting to poke it's face up over the horizon. He started to stretch out but froze when he felt Shiro wrapped around him. One of his arms was around his waist holding him tightly against him. His cheeks burned as he took in their position and their naked states. Shiro's face was buried in his neck again, an arm slung around his torso, and his tail was wrapped loosely around one of his legs. Briar was sleeping behind them and her tail was also over their legs a bit.

Keith was very much keeping his eyes off of Shiro as much as he could and ignoring the hot press of the other against him but that was harder. No pun intended though Shiro was half hard. The feel of the other against him had him groaning softly. He was starting to wonder if he had died and that this was actually heaven. Not that he knew what he would have done to deserve this, then again saving the universe from Zarkon was a major thing. To make things more awkward he himself was starting to become hard in his underwear. Damn if this sexy tiger man didn't check all his boxes.

As much as he'd rather lay there longer in the warm comfort of Shiro's arms and never move again, he had to get up. He extracted himself from Shiro as gently as he could and let out a relieved sigh when he didn't wake but instead curled up around Briars tail. He looked down at Shiro's sleeping face and smiled a bit. He looked so peaceful like that and a bit younger. He wondered how much older Shiro was. He knew the white hair was misleading. He'd ask him about it later.

Keith stretched his body before heading down to the water to clean up. He felt very itchy and hoped it was from his skin being sticky with sweat and not from something like the poison ivy he would get back home. He also felt a bit dizzy but assumed it was because he had not eaten yet. He pulled off his underwear and waded into the chilly water and ducked down under the surface. He scrubbed his fingers through his hair quickly before standing up again to shake his head. He squeezed the water out as best that he could before quickly doing his hair in a short braid to keep it out of his face and off his neck. His skin was feeling much better now but he knew he was just going to end up sticky again by the end of the day. The humidity was surely going to rise again as the sun climbed higher in the sky. The cold water also helped calm him down for now but he knew that every time he'd remember Shiro wrapped around him that it was going to become a problem. He would just have to do his best to keep his mind focused on his current objective.

As he was wading back to the bank, something sticking out of the water nearby caught his eye. He waded over to it and tugged on the stick that was caught between some rocks. After a few hard tugs it came free and revealed itself to be Shiro's spear that he'd lost when they were swept down the river. He quickly got out of the water and pulled on his underwear before headed back to their little camp.

Shiro had woken up now and was dressed when he arrived. When he saw what was in his hand, he let out an excited shout and ran over to him.

"Where did you find it?" He grabbed her spear from him carefully, tears stinging at his eyes. He had never thought that he would see it again but yet here it was.

"It was stuck in some rocks. I guess you're pretty lucky."

"Thank you for finding it." Shiro held it tightly for a moment before setting it down with his things. "It was a gift from my father before I left the tribe."

Keith smiled. "I'm glad that I found it then, it must be very important to you." he thought of his Blade that had been a gift from his mother.

"It is, but in the end it is just a weapon. I could make myself a new one if I needed to." While it was a link to his past it was not something he clung to too hard. "Are you ready to move on?"

"Yeah, just let me get dressed."

The jungle around them was starting to become more active as the other creatures began waking up with the sun. The air was filled with song as the birds flew from tree to tree and grunts and calls from others sounded around them as they tried to find potential mates. As they made their way through the dense forest, Shiro had to keep changing their direction every time they got too close to a beast's territory. They were all a bit more aggressive than normal and neither Shiro or Keith wanted to fight with them if it could be avoided. They were the ones trespassing after all. They did accidentally stumbled into a Snogflax in the middle of it making it's nest and they had to run quite a distance before the angry beast stopped chasing them. They were more careful after that.

"Did you feel that?" Keith asked as he felt a slight tremor in the ground.

"Yes but I don't think that it's anything we have to worry about. There are tremors around here a lot this time of year. There are some very large creatures around who make a lot of noise when they mate. There is also a volcano that sends tremors out but it has not erupted in centuries so that is not a concern either."

They continued through the thick growth of the jungle having to occasionally stop to cut their way through an area when there was no other way around. The tremors became bigger and more frequent enough that Keith was becoming visibly worried and nervous. Seeing this Shiro climbed up a tree to scout the area to see what was going on. He was up there for a few minutes without saying anything before his head appeared through the branches above.

"Keith, you should come up. You're going to want to see this."

With a frown Keith quickly climbed up the tree after him until he was about halfway up. He carefully made his way out to the branch that he was sitting on and sat down beside him. He did not look worried or frightened so Keith was able to relax slightly since it meant they were in no danger. He was still a bit nervous though as whatever was making the noise must be huge. He'd rather not run into it if it were possible.

Shiro gave him a smile and squeezed his shoulder to comfort him. "Everything is fine. Look there."

Shiro pointed to an area not far from them where two massive beasts were circling each other. The trees had been uprooted from that spot allowing them to be visible and it wasn't surprising considering their sizes. While the trees were bigger than any Keith had ever seen before they only reached halfway up the two beasts that stood among them. The beasts were green and covered in plants and trees themselves making them blend in well. One of them was a bit smaller than the other and Keith guessed that it was a male and a female. The smaller one reared up and even from here Keith could see that this one was very much a male. Aside from their green color and being covered in vegetation, the closest thing on Earth that he could compare them to would be the long dead mastodons.

"What are they?" he whispered, eyes wide as he watched them move around each other, causing chaos to the area around them.

"Gaeflora. They are a very docile beast that spend most of their time sleeping except for when they mate, which is every ten years, or when they migrate which is every fifty years. You are seeing something very rare right now." Shiro smiled up at him. "They are such slow moving creatures that many don't even notice them when they run into them in the wild. They look like ordinary hills and they don't react at all if you touch or even climb on them."

"You're pretty excited about seeing them." Keith said with an amused smile. It was like watching a kid find all the presents that Santa left them.

"That's because that female has a very rare tree growing on her back! It's one that only grows on them and even then it is rare. My spear was made from the wood of one of those trees and is unbreakable nor will it ever rot. One bite of one of those fruits will keep you full for a whole day and the seeds make a healing potion so strong that it extends your life by years. This is a very sacred animal to the Felari and they consider it to be the animal closest to the Wild Mother."

"Who is this Wild Mother that you keep mentioning?"

"She is the one who created our world and the one who watches over and protects us. She provides for everyone here and makes sure that we never go hungry. If something really dangerous happens, She makes sure that we are saved. If it weren't for Her I would have died shortly after leaving my tribe." Shiro took one of Keith's hands and pressed it into the branch that they were sitting on. "Close your eyes and try to empty your mind of thought." after Keith did so he was quiet for a moment as he watched his face.

"I feel something. A warmth?" It was so soothing and reminded him of the way it felt to be held by his mother.

"I am surprised that you can actually feel Her considering you are not a Felari."

"Then why did you have me try?"

He shrugged. "I was curious...and there is something about you that seems familiar to me. More like similar to me and the Felari. There is something beast like inside of you and it is reaching out instinctively to the Wild Mother. If you stay here long enough, I am sure that your natural instincts will start to show themselves more."

"It must be from my Galra blood."

Shiro's eyes went wide, "You are Galra? You don't look like it at all!" he shifted a bit on the branch and narrowed his eyes as he looked Keith over again like it were the first time. That would explain the strange scent that Keith had that he found to be oddly comforting and arousing at the same time.

He gave her a sad smile. "Yeah, my mother is Galran but my father was human. I know I showed you those vids and talked about how the Galra are destroying everything but they are not all like that. Some of them are the most kind and bravest people that I have ever met and I trust them with my life."

"So they are also like you then?" Shiro leaned towards him enough to press their shoulders together. "It's only been a few days and I barely know you but I feel safe with you and like I can trust you."

They stayed like that for a short time as they watched the Gaeflora dance around each other. When the beasts finally calmed and the tremors stopped, the two of them made their way down the tree.

"Keith, would you like to go with me to see them?"

"The Gaeflora?" at his nod he grinned. "I'd love to."

They made their way through the trees until they came out into the large clearing that was created from the beasts stomping around each other. They had to climb up and over many fallen trees in order to get to where the Gaeflora now lay sleeping after their mating. Keith hung back a bit as Shiro went right up to them with no hesitation and began to climb up onto the females back.

"Are you just going to stand down there and watch?" Shiro called from where he was high up on the beasts back and still climbing. "Don't tell me that you are scared, Keith!"

"I'm not scared, this thing is just huge and I'm being cautious!" he yelled back with a laugh.

Keith ran forward and began climbing up after him, finding it a bit odd to be climbing on a creature like this even if it was basically a living hill. Just like Yvri said, it was a docile beast and didn't even shift as the pair of them climbed up its enormous form. When he made it to the top Shiro was waiting for him under the large tree with multi colored leaves. Now that he was right up and close to it, it was much larger than he had thought it was and so was the fruit. What he thought would be cantaloupe sized fruit turned out to be so large that he didn't think he could wrap his arms all the way around its girth. The fruit themselves changed color depending on how the light was hitting them and they shined like they were made of crystal.

Shiro stood at the base of the tree with his hands pressed against it and his eyes closed. He smiled when he felt Keith come up beside him and copy his actions. After a moment the tree shivered.

"She has given us permission to have a fruit." Shiro took a step back and looked up into the tree. "Can you stand right there? I'm going to climb up and cut one off then you'll need to catch it."

"You got it." Keith went and stood where he had pointed and watched as he scaled the tree like it was nothing. He was still amazed by how fast he could climb; it would put the monkeys on Earth to shame.

Once he was on the branch beside the fruit he wanted, Shiro pulled his blade out and began cutting at the stem. "Look out below!" he shouted as the fruit was cut free and began to fall.

It was then that Keith's eyes went wide and he was regretting agreeing to catch it. The thing was huge and it was probably extremely heavy like a bolder. He braced himself for a hard hit but was surprised when the fruit landed in his arms and didn't feel any heavier than a watermelon. He examined the fruit closely and turned it, watching the colors changed in the light, then lightly scratched the shell with his fingernail. It felt as hard as a rock and he wondered how you were supposed to eat it. He doubted that his blade would be able to pierce through the rind.

Shiro swung down from the branch above and landed gracefully on his feet beside him with a smile. "Would you like to help me prepare this?"

"Do you even have the right tools to do it? This thing feels like a rock!"

He laughed. "You only need a knife for this. Follow me and I'll show you."

They climbed slowly down the Gaeflora, passing along the fruit as they went down, until they finally reached the bottom again. Shiro led Keith over to a flat area beside one of the fallen trees and knelt down on the ground, signalling for Keith to do the same. He moved the fruit in between them and held it steady with her hands before she started turning it around looking for a certain spot.

"Ah, there it is. Do you see this star shaped spot at the top? Take your knife and press the blade in there." He watched as Keith pulled his blade out and did as he was told. "Now wiggle your blade a bit and it should slip in between the layers. That's it, just go slow."

Keith held his blade steady as he slowly pushed it into the fruit. Once he had gone in about an inch, the fruit suddenly opened up like a flower revealing the glowing meat inside. The pieces were all shining with different colors just like the outside had been and they looked like gems. In the middle of them was a fist sized seed that was perfectly round and clear like a piece of glass.

"Go on, try a piece." he picked up a red piece of the gem like fruit and popped it into his mouth. "It's been years since I've had some of the Gae fruit!"

Keith picked up a piece that looked like sapphire and sniffed it. It didn't smell like anything that he'd had before and when he put it in his mouth, the taste was indescribable. He had not even finished swallowing it when he already felt his body reacting to the fruit. He felt his strength returning and was satisfied like he'd just had a large meal.

"That is amazing. I wish my friends could be here to try some of it."

Shiro took a small empty bag out of his bigger one and put some of the fruit into it, then pulled out his knife and began slicing down the shell into small chunks. He added some of it to the pouch before giving it to Keith with a smile. "You helped me get it so you have the right to some of it as well. I know that you're friends are going to enjoy it."

He took the pouch and put it into his bag with a nod of thanks. "I just hope that I can get back to them."

"I'll do whatever I can to help you get home, Keith." he reached over and gave his hand a squeeze.

"Thank you Shiro, that means a lot to me. You have already been a huge help already and I'd be dead if it weren't for you."

He stood up and smirked down at him. "I'm glad that you were worth saving."

Shiro turned and climbed up the fallen tree they were beside and then up onto Briar's back who had been waiting for them to finish with the fruit. He held his hand down to him with a smile.

"If we go through the night we might make it to the chasm. Do you think you can handle a long ride?"

Keith climbed up the tree and then took his hand with his own smile. "You know it."

Now that there was more room to move, travel became much faster since they were once again able to ride on Briar. The trees whipped past them quickly and they made great time having managed to successfully avoid any trouble along the way. Haven eaten some of the Gae fruit they did not need to stop and take a break except for when Briar need to stop for water. When Keith asked Shiro about Briar eating he learned that the giant cat only needed to eat once every few days and that she'd be fine for another day before she'd want to hunt again.

They eventually came to where the river poured into the large lake that Keith had seen a few days ago. It was almost black in color and looked thick like heated tar; it was even bubbling in some places. He looked at the river that was normal water and then back at the lake. The river continued on the other side of the lake but he couldn't see it well enough to see if it was also black. It smelled like rotting garbage left out in the hot summer sun.

"What happened here to make this like this?" Keith slipped down from Briars back and walked closer to the water to get a better look at it.

"The same day that tower arrived other things fell from the sky. Something landed here and formed this lake of black water. It does not seem to be doing any harm despite it's unnaturalness so we mostly just avoid it. Not to mention the fact that there are things living here that are very, very violent and aggressive. We should get going before we attract attention." Shiro said.

Keith's eyes were still fixed on the black water and the movement he was seeing just below the surface. A spiked fin the size of a sailboat breached the surface followed by a scaled covered head with brightly glowing yellow pupiless eyes. The creature that came out of the water looked like severely mutated crocodiles with long legs with fins on them and a long tail that ended in a sideways fin like a sharks. When it opened it's massive mouth in a growl, Keith could see rows and rows of huge, sharp serrated teeth. Each tooth was the length of his arm.

When the creature started to come out of the water towards them, Keith turned and ran. The creature snarled as it went after him, the ground trembling slightly due to it's heavy weight as it stomped towards him. Before Keith could reach Briar, Shiro leapt off of her back with his spear and drove it down into the beasts nose as it tried to snap at Keith. The beast growled angrily and turned its body and lashed out at them with it's tail. Briar jumped back out of the way and Briar was pulled away as he was still holding onto his spear that was stabbed into the beasts face. Keith, however, had stumbled over some rocks and was unable to dodge out of the way. The tail caught him in the middle and sent him flying through the air and into the black water.

Despite how thick the water looked he sunk down like a stone. The wind had been driven from his lungs with the hit and so he was already struggling to breathe. He opened his eyes to try to see something but they slammed shut as they began to burn intensely. The water was too dark to be able to see even his own hands right in front of him and now with pain filled eyes, he was blinded. Considering the water looked like tar it had been completely foolish of him to even attempt to see.

He began to swim and claw his way through the black water, hoping that he was heading up, and also hoping that there weren't any more creatures in here that would attack him. The sound of something thrashing in the water had him mentally cursing his bad luck since arriving on this planet and he tried to swim faster. Something slammed into his side sending him spiraling away and it took everything he had not to gasp for breath. He thought he heard someone yell his name but it was muffled liked his head was filled with cotton and he had headphones on. He activated his mask which then pushed out the water, then he gulped in a large breath as soon as his suit started providing oxygen. He still couldn't see anything but at least he wasn't going to drown.

Keith bumped into something as he was swimming and reached a hand out to feel it. It wasn't moving and it was hard and rough. He grabbed onto the rock and used it to help pull himself back up to the surface. Every movement hurt and he grabbed his side where he had been injured when he'd crashed. The creature had hit him in the same area and it was once again hurting badly. He wasn't bleeding thankfully but he was pretty positive he had at least a broken rib. He climbed up the rock until he was completely out and sat there or a moment to catch his breath. He removed the mask and wiped at his eyes the best he could. He could see again but things were still a bit blurry and his eyes still burned, but it was better than not being able to see anything at all.

Across from where he was in the water, Briar and Shiro were still fending off the beast. He could see that Briar was bleeding and limping a bit but she was still trying to attack. Shiro was fast with his movements and able to dodge out of the way from the sharp teeth as the beast lunged at him. He used her spear to stab it in the face whenever he had an opening, or used the spear to vault himself up onto its back to drive his knife down into it's head. From the look of things, his attacks were not doing much damage to it.

"Shiro!" Adrenalin flooded his body and he stopped feeling the pain in his side.

Keith dove back into the water and swam the short distance to the shore. Moving quickly while the beast was distracted, he leapt up onto it's back and ran up the body to the head. He nearly lost his footing a few times as it thrashed about but being barefoot was allowing him to keep his footing better. He pulled his blade out and drove it down into one of the yellow eyes before leaping off as it thrashed about even more.

"Let's go!" he grabbed Shiro's hand and began pulling them as they ran while the thing was still thrashing in pain. They climbed onto Briars back and despite being hurt, the tiger took off at full speed leaving the lake and the beast quickly behind them. "What the hell was that?!"

"This is why I said we needed to leave." Shiro panted. He had Briar stop and he slid down off the tigers back. "We're going to have to find somewhere safe to stop and rest. Briar has been injured and I need to take care of it before it gets worse."

"I'll go ahead a bit and see if I can find us some place safe."

Keith jumped down from Briars back and took off ahead of them at a jog, unable to go much faster due to the density of the jungle where they now were. His side was throbbing with pain again but he had to ignore it for now. It took a few minutes but he was finally able to find a place that would at least give them some cover. There was a cluster of trees that were growing tightly together but there was a gap between them and in the center was a big enough area for the three of them to fit. He went back to Shiro and Briar and led them to the spot and helped the tiger squeeze into the opening between the trees. Once inside the tiger flopped to the ground with a pained whine and began to lick at her bleeding leg.

Keith put his hand on Briar, feeling guilty that she was injured. It was his fault that this happened. "I'm sorry."

Shiro stopped pulling things out of his bag to look up at him from where he knelt beside Briars injured leg. "It wasn't your fault, Keith. You didn't know."

"Is there anything I can do to help?

"Keep watch while I treat her wounds."

Keith squeezed his way back out of the group of trees and began to pace around. His senses were on high alert now like they should have been from the start. He was on an unfamiliar planet but because he was with someone that knew it he thought he would be safe. He was quickly learning how wrong he was. Four days here and something had attacked him at every turn. If he weren't more careful he wouldn't be alive to make it to the tower let alone get off the planet.

With an angry growl at himself, he turned his full attention to keeping watch.


	5. Day Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith starts to change and his control begins to slip.

In the morning after eating some Gae fruit for breakfast, Keith was once again keeping watch. As he continued to pace around he couldn't help but feel on edge and anxious. He felt like he should be doing something but he didn't know what. He felt like he needed to run, to chase...to hunt something. He grit his teeth and a lengthened fang cut into his bottom lip but it went unnoticed. He rubbed at his arms and growled at the crawling sensation just below the skin. It felt like there was something sleeping inside of him and it desperately wanted out. Right now.

The sound of snapping branches came from near by and Keith was bolting towards it instantly, drawing his knife as he ran. He didn't even know what he was running towards but his instincts were screaming to hunt. As soon as he saw the beast he was leaping towards it with out even registering what it was. His blade drove down into the furred hide over and over again, the pained shrieks of the beast below him growing louder for a moment as it thrashed around trying to get him off, then slowly went still. The blade fell from his hand and he dug into the meat with his lengthened claws, scratching and gouging out chunks of flesh.

Keith stood there looking down at the dead beast with unfocused eyes until he registered the sound of someone yelling his name. All at once he came back to his senses and looked down at the bloody blade at his feet and the gore covering his hands. The beast at his feet that was so mutilated that it was impossible to even tell what it may have been. To make things worse he felt like he wasn't satisfied and that he needed to hunt something else. He needed something else to kill.

Suddenly he felt ill and staggered a few steps away where he immediately threw up.

"Wh-what the hell is wrong with me?" he ripped off part of his torn shirt and used it to wipe his mouth before tossing it aside.

Keith rubbed the back of an arm across his forehead to wipe the sweat off. It was hot out but he was sweating like he was in a sauna. He took a few deep breaths to get his breathing under control. Once his head stopped spinning and his heart slowed to its normal rate, he picked up his blade off of the ground and resheathed it after wiping it off in the grass. He looked at the dead beast again and his fingers twitched to hold his blade again. He quickly turned his back on it and started walking. He could still hear Shiro calling for him so he made his way in the direction of his voice.

"Keith where have you-are you okay?!" Shiro's eyes went wide when he saw him covered in blood and gore.

"I'm fine. The blood isn't mine."

"What happened?"

Keith looked down at the ground. "I don't know. I was here keeping watch and then the next thing I knew I was somewhere else attacking something. I don't even know what it was I attacked but I killed it...and I liked it." he looked down at his hands which were shaking. "I liked it and I wanted to find something else to kill."

Shiro moved over to him and cupped his face in his hands and used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that had started sliding down his cheeks. "Everything is fine." one of his hands moved to start brushing through his hair, ignoring the blood that was getting on him. "You protected us and kept us safe. You did good."

His words were having an oddly soothing effect on him and he slowly relaxed. He leaned forward and rested his head on Shiro's shoulder and he continued to hold him until he'd calmed down fully.

"Do you feel better?" Shiro asked when Keith looked up at him. His eyes were much clearer now and a light blush was coloring his cheeks.

"Yeah, thank you." Keith stepped away from him and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what just happened." he looked at his hands which still trembled slightly but there were no longer any claws. "I felt like some kind of beast."

A look came into Shiro's eyes, almost sad. "It's this place. Remember I said that the Wild Mother may bring out your more beastly instincts? If you were just human I don't think you would be effected, but because of the Galra part of you..." he reached up and cupped Keith's cheek again, a thumb running across his lower lip where his tooth had cut. "I think that part of you is starting to fight for control."

The thought terrified Keith and it must have been clear on his face because Shiro was pulling him into his arms again. Keith wrapped his arms around him tightly and this time it was his face in Shiro's neck. He hadn't noticed his scent before but he was quickly finding it was one that he liked. He mouthed at the skin there, his teeth lightly grazing the surface but not marking. Shiro let out a pleased sigh and his head tipped to the side to give Keith more access.

"I will help you though this, Keith. Take whatever you need from me." he shuddered as he felt a lengthened fang brush over his scent gland. His fingers curled into Keith's soft hair and he arched into him more. When Keith suddenly pulled away from him, he audibly whimpered. "Keith?"

"Thank you, Shiro." Keith said softly with his back to the other. He took a few deep breaths and ran his hands through his hair. "So, uh, what do we do now?"

Shiro smiled a bit. "You go and get some rest. I know you haven't been up long but you seem like you need it. This change is affecting you physically too so you're going to be feeling more drained than usual. It will pass." he shoo'd him towards the group of trees. "Go ahead and use Briar for a pillow, she won't mind."

Keith went and did as he was told even though it was the opposite of what he wanted to do. The urge from before was still with him but he was mostly able to ignore it. He just wished that he knew what was going on. He'd never felt like this before and he hated not being in control of himself, especially when it cost an innocent their life, beast or not. While being held by Shiro another instinct was rising up within him that was even harder to ignore. He wanted nothing more than to push Shiro to the ground and fuck him senseless. When Shiro had bared his neck like that he had nearly lost it.

With a frustrated sigh, Keith went into the area between the trees where Briar was. She started sniffing him and then licking the blood off of him and he tried to squirm away but there was not much room. She caught him with her uninjured paw and held him in place while she gave him a tongue bath.

"Thanks Briar." he said with a bit of a chuckle when she finished. It had certainly been an experience being groomed by a giant tiger. He decided not to tell anyone about it knowing that he'd be teased endlessly about it.

While Keith went to get some rest, Shiro headed in the direction that the other man had come from. The scent of blood was strong in the air and it did not take him long at all to fine the site where everything happened. Shiro brought a hand up to his mouth at the sight before him. Blood was everywhere in large puddles and splattered on the surrounding trees and brush. Chunks of meat were flung around and the beast was stripped down to the bone in many places. Even knowing this jungle like the back of his hand, even Shiro did not have a clue as to what creature this may have been due to how mutilated it was.

"Oh Keith." Shiro whispered to himself as he closed his eyes for a moment. He caught more of the scent and this time it was fear. "I won't let you go through this alone, I promise."

Shiro began to cover up as much of the mess as he could with dirt. He knew something would be along soon to eat the creature once Keith's scent had faded enough, but he just couldn't leave it out in the open like this. Once he was finished, he headed back towards Keith and Briar, scouting along the way and making plans for later. He was silent when he returned and poked his head between the trees to check on Keith. He smiled when he saw the other man passed out, snuggled up in Briar's fur, with the tiger wrapped around him protectively.

It was two hours before Keith woke up from his nap. He was feeling much better and more like himself again even though his teeth were still sharp. He climbed out of the pile of fur that was Briar and stumbled out of the trees. He looked around with a frown when he did not immediately spot Shiro. He could hear something though, a heavy thumping that was coming at regular intervals and an occasional grunt. He made his way through the brush towards the sound and soon found out what it was.

"Fuck." his voice whispered out as it caught in his throat, his eyes wide trying to take in everything before him.

Shiro had tied two very large rocks up in vines which were looped up and over a tree branch for makeshift weights. The thumping sound was from the rocks occasionally hitting the ground as he raised and lowered his arms. Sweat ran down his bare skin and Keith held back an embarrassing noise as he watched his back muscles flex under the weight. His eyes followed the sweat droplets down Shiro's skin to where the waistband of his leathers caught it.

Shiro's tail twitched a bit and he turned his head to look over his shoulder at Keith. "Hey, you're looking better." he said with a grin and continued his routine.

"Y-yeah, I feel better." Keith cleared his throat to swallow the lump in it. He forced himself to calm down as he strode over to stand in front of the other man. His calm was instantly shattered as he faced Shiro, his eyes being pulled to his chest like a magnet. He had to turn his head away in order to not look. "So, uh, you get bored or something?"

Shiro chuckled and let the stones thud to the ground as he released the vines. "I had nothing else to do. It's pretty safe here and I do try and work out when I can. Survival of the fittest and all that, especially here. Want to give it a try?" he held out the vines to Keith.

"No thanks, maybe next time. I'll just wear myself out and have to sleep again." his eyes were drawn back to Shiro again as the man stretched his arms over his head and then leaned down to pick up his shirt. He didn't know if he was relieved or disappointed when Shiro pulled it on over his head. "You know, maybe I'll do something after all. How about a run?"

"Think you can keep up?" Shiro shouted as he took off with a grin.

Keith was hot on his heels, a grin mirrored on his own face.

The jungle whipped past him as he chased after Shiro, ignoring everything around him as he solely focused on his prey. He leapt over fallen trees and slid under low branches and continued to stay just out of reach of catching the larger man. Shiro laughed every time he was almost caught but he managed to avoid Keith's grab every time. The longer the chase went on, the more focused Keith became, but the more frustrated as well. His prey was getting away.

I must catch him. Keith thought with a growl. He's mine. My prey. Must catch him!

The next time Keith leapt over a log he ended up catching his foot on a root and went crashing down to the ground. He quickly got up to his feet and started forward again but had now lost sight of Shiro. He paused and looked around for a moment before letting his eyes fall closed and calmed his breathing. He sniffed the air and could smell Shiro's scent not too far off though he could not hear him at all anymore.

Their game of tag had turned into hide and seek.

His yellow tinted eyes opened and a feral grin spread across his lips as he took off again. He moved as quickly as he could while trying to keep his noise to a minimum. He did not want to alert his prey to his location. Shiro was very good at not being seen or heard and so it took him at least fifteen minutes before he finally found him. Shiro was crouched down behind a fallen log in some tall grass looking in the opposite direction that Keith was coming from. Keith dropped down to the ground and very slowly crawled towards him. Whenever Shiro shifted he froze in place and held his breath but the other did not seem to realize that he had been found.

Once Keith was close enough he leapt forward with a growl and tackled Shiro down to the ground. Shiro instantly turned their positions and slammed Keith down before he looked startled.

"Keith, I-!" Shiro didn't get to finish speaking as Keith growled again and once again wrestled Shiro until he was underneath him again. Shiro chuckled, "So that's how it's going to be, huh? Fine, I'm game."

The two of them began to wrestle, both trying to pin the other down, as they rolled across the grass and dirt. While Shiro was physically stronger than Keith, the smaller man was no push over and he was very determined to literally come out on top. At one point Shiro nipped at one of Keith's now pointed ears playfully and the sound the other let out had his body reacting pretty quickly. Keith became more aggressive after that and when he finally had Shiro pinned face down in the ground, hands pinned above his head and a knee in his back, Keith leaned down and sunk his teeth into a meaty shoulder. Not hard enough to draw blood but hard enough to leave indents from his sharpened teeth.

"Okay, okay, you win." Shiro said with a laugh. He shifted to try and get up but was met with resistance still. "Keith?"

Keith did not respond with any words. Instead, he leaned down and took a long inhale at Shiro's neck before slowly licking the sweat off his skin. Shiro shuddered beneath him and he licked the spot again, and then did it more until the larger man was whimpering. Keith was panting hard at this point and and couldn't seem to stop sniffing and licking Shiro. He let go of one of Shiro's hands and curled his fingers into the silver hair to tug his head back further earning him a groan.

"Keith...let me roll over." Shiro turned onto his side and immediately regretted it as soon as Keith's sharp claws dug into a shoulder to hold him still, a deep growl of warning along with it. It acted like a bucket of ice water to him and Shiro's playful mood vanished. "Keith, let me up."

"Mine." The word was nearly growled out into his neck as Keith bit at Shiro's neck again. His claws dug a bit deeper into Shiro's shoulder, blood flowing from the wounds now.

Before Keith knew what hit him, he was sent flying backwards and crashing against the fallen tree that Shiro had originally been hiding behind when Keith had first found him. Before he could sit up, Shiro was over him and slapping him in the face.

"Ow, fuck! Shiro, what the hell?!" Keith snapped out of the trance like state he'd been in as he held his jaw that burned with pain. He glared up at Shiro who was standing over him.

"Back to yourself now?" Shiro did not look angry, but instead concerned.

"What happened?" Keith asked with a frown and started to get up. His eyes went wide when he saw the blood on Shiro's shoulder and the matching blood on this clawed hands. His neck was all bitten up, some of them looking bad but thankfully no blood there except for maybe a trickle from one. "I...I hurt you?"

"It's not as bad as it looks." Shiro dropped to his knees right in front of Keith who flinched away from him. "Hey, it's okay. I wasn't in any danger from you." he spoke softly as he put a comforting hand on Keith's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Look at me?" once Keith had turned his face back to him a few seconds later, he leaned closer so his mouth was next to his still pointed ear. "I didn't hit you because I hated what you were doing, I hit you because it wasn't really you. If you ever want to touch me like that again, please do, as long as you are in full control of your actions."

Keith turned red and spluttered with embarrassment as Shiro winked at him before he stood up again. He noticed now that there was a tent in the front of Shiro's leathers and he felt himself in a similar state. His face turned redder and he looked away. "I'll, uh, I'll keep that in mind?"

"Thanks." Shiro said with a grin. "Now, we probably should get back. We've gone quite a ways from where we set up camp and Briar is probably wondering where we are."

Briar was indeed worried about them when they returned and greeted them with headbutts which knocked them to the ground and loud purring. She did not let them up until she had made her point clear, then sat back to let them finally get up. Shiro reached up to give her some more skritches under her chin with a chuckle.

"Sorry for making you worry." he laughed as he received another headbutt and he nuzzled her back.

Keith grabbed his bag from in the trees and dug around in it until he'd found what he was looking for. He pulled the small mirror out and looked at his reflection with a scowl. His eyes were still tinted yellow and his teeth remained sharp, along with the claws on his fingers and his pointed ears. It was not that he hated his appearance; he was just looking more like his Galra side, but he did hate the other things that were going on. He never thought to ask his mother about possible changes that could happen and now he was in no position to do so. To make matters worse, he'd hurt Shiro because he could not control himself.

He looked over to where Shiro was still petting Briar and when the other man looked at him, he quickly turned his face away. He still felt the desire burning through his body and swore that he still tasted Shiro on his tongue. Even now he wanted nothing more than to shove Shiro face down in the ground and take him, claim him completely, and cover him in marks that would tell everyone else that he was his. The thoughts disgusted him and made him feel ashamed. He was not some kind of animal and he could control himself. He refused to allow himself to hurt Shiro again, even if the man himself said that he'd been fine and was in no danger. Keith did not trust himself even if Shiro seemed to.

"It's still pretty early; do you want to keep going or stay here for another day?" Shiro approached Keith as he spoke, a frown slowly coming to his face as he saw the distress Keith was in. He had a feeling he already knew what it was about and he wanted to tell him to not worry, but he also knew Keith well enough already to know that he would not talk unless he wanted to. Judging by how Keith was refusing to meet his gaze for more than a few seconds at a time, he took the hint and didn't bring up what had happened. "If we make it to the edge of the jungle today, we'll be able to reach the crevasse by mid morning tomorrow."

Keith nodded and put the mirror back into his bag before sliding his arms into the straps. "Sounds good, let's go."

They continued on their way mostly in silence, except whenever something new came along Shiro made sure to talk about what it was because he knew Keith was curious. Keith didn't say too much in return but Shiro knew that he was listening and taking it in. Briar could sense the tension in the air between them and she would make inquisitive sounds at them or bumped into them as they walked to try and help. Eventually she got Keith to crack a smile with how determined she was being and that in turn made Shiro smile. After that the silence became more comfortable instead of awkward.

When the sun went down and they were in completely darkness they still continued on for a ways. Keith found that he could see perfectly in the dark like Shiro now so there was not as much danger. There were still nocturnal creatures coming out that they'd have to keep an eye out for, but they had to do the same during the day. Thankfully there had been no attacks to worry about as they'd been walking but they had heard plenty of activity around them. Keith briefly wondered for a moment if the creatures were staying away from him because of the blood that still covered his suit. He had tried to get as much of it off as he could but he knew it was still there and they could smell it. He could smell it too and it made his stomach turn. He was thankful when they stopped at a stream to refill their canteens and take a break for the night. They were now at the edge of the jungle and from here on it was a long stretch of flat land until it reached the crevasse.

Keith knelt down beside the water and scrubbed at his uniform furiously, tinting the water red before it washed away down stream. He stopped when his hands were red and raw from scrubbing so much and he could no longer smell the blood as strongly. He sucked in a breath when Shiro knelt beside him and pulled off the leather over his chest and began to clean himself off from sweat and a little bit of blood from earlier. Keith averted his gaze and clenched his fists on his thighs. He looked up when he felt a hand give his shoulder a squeeze and Shiro gave him a soft smile as if to say "it's okay, stop blaming yourself". Keith still blamed himself.

"Are you hungry yet?" Shiro asked after finishing cleaning up and stood to brush the dirt off his legs and fur. 

Keith's stomach rumbled in answer and the both laughed. He followed Shiro to where they left their packs and the other tossed him a small bundle that contained some dried meat of some kind. Keith picked up a piece and tore into it and made a sound of approval. It had been awhile since he'd tasted jerky and while he knew this wasn't beef, it was still pretty damn good.

"Did you make this yourself?"

Shiro grinned. "Yeah, pretty good right? It's my best batch yet. Be glad that you weren't around to taste test my first one. Even Briar wouldn't eat it!"

The two of them laughed and joked more and slowly the air around them returned to normal and Keith was able to relax again. Shiro headed out from under the canopy of the trees when they were finished and flopped down in the grass with a sigh. He stretched long and arched his back as he worked the tightness from the days travel out of his body. Keith couldn't tear his eyes away from him no matter how much he tried. The moon was nearly full and so the light painted Shiro in a way that made him glow. If Keith were a painter he'd be dying to get his hands on a canvas right now. He may have tried to at least sneak a picture but his equipment was barely functioning and it would make him feel like a creeper anyway. Instead, Keith headed out of the jungle and flopped down beside Shiro, Briar laying down at the edge of the tree line to keep watch.

"It's beautiful here during the day but I think I prefer it the most at night." Shiro reached his hand up to the sky like he was trying to grab the moon. "Hearing your stories just makes me love it even more. To fly among the stars whenever you want, it's like a dream to me." his tail twitched and draped over Keith's ankle; the other didn't move.

"It is beautiful but it can be pretty lonely."

Shiro turned onto his side and propped himself up on an elbow. "Lonely?"

"Mn." Keith turned his head and looked at Shiro directly for the first time in hours. "All those stars around but there are not always any planets nearby. You are along floating in the darkness with your own thoughts. It could drive you mad if you stayed like that for too long." He had a brief flashback to when he and the others had been stranded and nearly died from the giant monster posing as the Earth.

"You wouldn't get lonely if I were with you." Shiro slowly reached out and ran his fingers through Keith's hair, a small smile on his lips when he turned his face into the touch. "You and me among the stars. It sounds perfect to me." he leaned down to kiss Keith but the other jerked away from him right before their lips touched as if he were burned.

Keith quickly rolled away and up onto his feet, his gaze once again refusing to meet Shiro's. "I'm, uh, tired. I'm going to bed. Goodnight." he turned and walked away.

"Goodnight Keith." Shiro said then sighed as the other disappeared behind Briar and into the trees. He flopped back into the grass and went back to staring up at the stars until he fell asleep.


	6. Day Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to meet the family. First impressions are everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise update!

"No, don't touch her!"

Keith was startled awake by the sound of Shiro screaming and the loud growls and distressed cries from Briar. He bolted upright only to be slammed to the ground and freeze as he found multiple spears pointed at him by three very large men with cat ears and tails. They wore simple clothes and light leather for protection but for the most part most of them were visible. Their bodies were covered in markings of various kinds from stripes to spots along with the red markings like what Shiro had. They each had faces more feline than human and were much furrier than Shiro was. They probably stood a good eight feet tall and were pure muscle. These were Felari Warriors.

"You move and you die." One of them hissed out at him as he shoved his spear into Keith's chest hard enough that he winced from the sting.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The same Felari who had spoken kicked him in the side which had him curling up in pain and gasping for breath. It is the same place he had been injured in the crash.

"Keith, do as they say!" Shiro yelled out. "They will not hesitate to kill you!"

Now that he was on his side he could see where Shiro and Briar were along with an even larger male Felari; Shiro barely reached mid chest on him. Zarkon was a large Galra but even he was smaller than these creatures. The one facing Shiro wore a mask so his face was hidden but he only wore a simple loincloth and no armor at all. Every inch of him was covered in thick muscle and he had the most markings out of the group of warriors. His skin was dark like Lance's and the black stripes of a tiger covered his skin mixing with the hunters marks just like Shiro's did.. Keith wondered if he was a full Hunter but with his face hidden he couldn't tell. The man stood there looking unimpressed and not the least bit threatened as Shiro stood before him in an attack stance, ready to spring at any time, his spear held tightly in his hands. There was another warrior nearby who was securing Briar with some kind of vines as she struggled to get to Shiro.

Shiro let out a growl as he launched himself at the man, his spear jabbing towards his face at a fast speed but he easily avoided it. "Let my friends go! What are you even doing on this side of the chasm?" He planted a foot as his other came up off the ground in a round house kick.

The hunter brought a hand up and easily blocked the attack and pushed him off so that he stumbled backwards a bit. "That does not concern you, half breed." he looked at Briar then over to where Keith lay on the ground. "What is that and how did it get here?"

When he started to approach Keith, Shiro attacked him again, this time pulling her blade out and slashing at the backs of his legs. The man leapt out of the way sensing the attack coming and turned to face Shiro again. As he turned, his arm swung out to try and punch him but he dodged the attack. Shiro used his faster speed to dart in and out of his range, slicing and stabbing at him with his blade or kicking him in his weaker spots. He grunted with the hits but they otherwise did not seem to have as much effect on him. When Shiro started circling him again for another attack, he surprised Shiro by lunging at him. He grabbed him by one of his legs and picked him up only to slam him down hard into the ground. A cry of pain escaped Shiro's lips as he connected with the ground, but as soon as the Felari released him he was up and attacking again.

"Leave him alone!" Keith yelled out and moved up onto his knees, one of his hands moving towards his blade at his back.

He managed to pull his blade just before the spear came down to land a critical blow against him. He deflected it and the others as he quickly rolled out of the way and up onto his feet. The blade flashed in his hand before it extended to its full length. The warriors looked at each other, a bit wary of the weapon, before the three of them attacked him at once. Keith had fought off many enemies at a time before so this was nothing new for him. What made the fight challenging was the fact that every attack against him was aiming to be fatal and they attacked him brutally. For every hit he managed to land on one of them he received three to himself in kind. His suit and reflexes were just enough to keep the attacks from cutting too deep, but his luck wouldn't hold out forever, nor his stamina even if it was higher than a regular humans.

The bigger of the three laughed as they circled him. "You are like a child! You would never even be able to earn the first stripes as a Warrior!"

"I'm not a child, you guys are just ridiculously large!"

Keith ran forward towards the one before him and slid between his legs, rolling onto his back and swinging at him with his sword. His sword cut across the back of one of the Felari's legs but it wasn't deep. He was kicked in the side again before he could get away and was sent flying backwards. He started to get up to his knees but was screaming in pain a moment later as two spears pierced him from behind, one in each shoulder, forcing him face first into the ground. The spears were twisted to cause more pain and Keith couldn't hold back another scream.

Shiro's head snapped towards where Keith had been fighting and saw him on the ground with one of the warriors standing over him about to deal the finishing blow. His grey eyes flared for a moment with gold, as did the markings on his body, and then he was beside Keith in an instant. The two warriors who had been holding their spears went flying as he kicked them away from Keith, then lunged towards the third and drove his knife into his stomach. The Felari stumbled backwards with wide eyes and the three were now visibly frightened of Shiro.

"I will kill anyone who dares to touch him again!" his words were mostly a growl and even Keith found himself a bit frightened at Shiro's ferocity. He was crouched over him now, knife held in one hand and his spear in the other, his eyes wild as he looked between them all. "These markings on my skin are not for show."

"It's about time you showed your claws, Shiro." The Hunter that had been fighting him walked towards them, his hands at his sides in a non-threatening manner, but he didn't lower his stance at all. "I knew that you were holding back when we were fighting. It is not possible that the Wild Mother would have chosen a Hunter as weak as you were fighting just now." when he stopped, he crossed his arms over his chest, cold gaze cast down at the man below Shiro. "Is that thing at your feet so important to you that you would attack your own tribe? Isn't the reason why you ran away because you refused to do so in the first place?"

Shiro's markings flared again and his body trembled. "Leave us alone. Now."

"That will not be happening." The Hunter flared up just like Shiro had and shot forward at a speed too fast to see. He slammed into Shiro with his body, a fist driving into his stomach, as he took him down to the ground. Shiro barely did more than gasp for breath as they hit the ground before his markings dimmed and he fell unconscious. The hunter stood and slung him over his shoulder. "Bind him and bring him with us."

"What of the tiger?"

"Leave it."

Despite his injuries, Keith's arms were yanked hard behind him and his hands were tied so tightly together that he was quickly loosing feeling in them. He was shoved forward and forced to walk at a fast pace as he tried to keep up with the Hunter leading them.

"Where are you taking us?"

He was met with silence.

It was probably only a couple of miles to where they were going but it felt like it lasted hours. Every time Keith so much as turned his head to look around, one of the warriors would stab him with their spear hard enough to draw blood. He learned quickly to keep his head down and just follow behind the Hunter silently. His gaze did often move up to look at Shiro, hoping that he was okay and would wake up soon. He had a bad feeling about this whole situation and wanted to escape. He would not leave Shiro behind no matter what. As it was, he was going to be very angry to learn that Briar had been left behind, still tied up, drugged and vulnerable.

It wasn't long after they had crossed the chasm at a large bridge did Keith finally start seeing the first signs of civilization since he'd arrived on the planet. There were dirt roads and huts scattered around belonging to the Felari. The owners watched with wide eyes as the Hunter moved through, openly staring at Keith with curiosity or disgust and voicing their thoughts on him loudly. He had to remember that he was the alien here and so it was natural to hear such things. A much smaller one, a child by the looks, picked up a rock and threw it at him then laughed before running away. Keith let the rock hit even though he could have avoided it having a feeling that if he had tried that he would have been stabbed again.

The area he was led to was large and filled with caves like the one Shiro lived in. There were some small huts laid out in a circular pattern around a large one in the central area. Some of the smaller huts were open and looked to be shops of some kind selling either food or other wears. He thought he saw a blacksmith before he was shoved forward again and had to stop looking. He was brought to the large hut and then shoved to the his knees in front of the group of Felari inside when they came to a stop.

"You were right, Elder. That was not a meteor that hit the other day but a ship. I assume it belonged to this."

The Hunter shoved Keith forward with his foot and he ended up biting his lip when he hit the ground hard, the taste of blood filling his mouth. Keith looked up at the person the Hunter was talking to and saw an elderly man sitting at the head of the group seated at a small table. The man got up from the table and circled around so that he could take a better look at Keith. The man had golden eyes like Shiro and black stripes covered what he could see of his skin. The man had no hunters stripes that he could see. Unlike Shiro, this man was full Felari and had a completely feline face of the tiger he resembled. Yellowed fangs were visible when he spoke and there was a low sound in his chest as a warning to behave.

The Felari referred to as Elder reached out a clawed hand and grabbed Keith by the chin to tilt his face up. He sniffed the air and his eyes narrowed. "You carry the smell of a Galra on you but also human." Keith's eyes widened at that. "Tell me, human, what brings you to our peaceful planet? Are you here scouting for your army? Are you to bring war to us?"

Keith shook his head as best he could. "No, my arrival here was unintentional. Something hit my ship, then there was a flash, and then I was crashing on your planet. I don't even know where I am."

The other elders that were still sitting at the table all gasped. "Could it be?" one of them asked aloud before he was quickly silenced by the others.

The Elder let go of his face and stood straight. "Kuron, put him in one of the cells, I wish to question him more later." his eyes then turned to the form slumped over the Hunter's shoulder. He stared at Shiro for a long moment before sighing. "Put him in the cell as well. He is going to be angry when he wakes up and I don't want him escaping before I can speak with him."

The Hunter, Kuron put a hand to his chest and bowed his head. "It will be done."

The Warriors yanked Keith back up to his feet and started pushing him to the door.

"Wait! Please just let us go! I am only trying to find my way back home and Shiro was helping me." He yelled over his shoulder to the Elder but was ignored. A spear dug hard into his back and he felt the warmth of his blood start to seep through his suit.

"Silence or you will be dead before we reach the cells."

Keith was led back outside the building and then up a winding path that led to an isolated cave from the rest of the village. There was a guard here who unlocked and opened a heavy wooden door to allow them to pass. It was completely dark inside with the exception of a single torch burning at the entrance. The sound of water could be heard running nearby and dripping off of the high ceiling. The air here was much cooler than outside which was the only relief. There was another guard inside who led the group farther into the cell area to one of the bigger ones in the back of the cave. Keith was shoved hard into the back stone wall and Shiro was deposited on the ground like a piece of garbage. The warriors left but Kuron remained.

"If you attempt to escape at all and do anything other than cooperate fully with us, we will kill you. This is your only warning." Kuron glanced down as Shiro began to stir at his feet. "Someone will return for you later." he then left the cell and made sure it was locked securely behind him before disappearing into the darkness.

"Shiro, are you okay?" Keith walked over to him on his knees and gently poked him with one since his hands were still bound behind his back.

"Keith? Where are we?" Shiro groaned as he slowly sat up and looked around. His eyes went wide and he quickly went to work on untying Keith's hands for him once he saw he had been restrained. His hands started moving over him frantically as he saw that he was covered in still bleeding wounds. "What the hell did they do to you?"

Keith winced as Shiro pressed on some of them. "They didn't like me talking or looking around." he made a sound as Shiro started tugging at his clothes trying to get better access to his wounds. "It's not as bad as it looks, they're pretty shallow."

Shiro sucked in a breath once he'd got his top open and pushed down. "Keith...I'm sorry. This is all my fault." He began digging around in his pouches until he found a small jar. As soon as he opened it a bitter smell filled the air. "This is going to sting."

"Shit!" Keith couldn't stop himself from arching away a bit as soon as the paste touched his skin. It wasn't cold but it stung pretty good. "Wait a minute." he frowned as he reached behind his back and felt that his blade was still there. "What kind of person takes someone prisoner but leaves them with their weapons?"

Shiro made a sound as he continued to apply the paste to his wounds. "The kind who has full confidence in his abilities and does not find you the least bit of a threat. If we are where I assume we are, we are now also surrounded by even more Warriors and a few almost fully trained Hunters. Weapons or not, escaping would be impossible."

"I've had worse odds." Keith muttered. "Oh, when we first came in we were brought to the big building in the center of the village and that Kuron guy talked to someone he just called 'Elder'. The Elder said he would be by to ask us questions later."

Shiro's whole body went tense at the name. "Did you say Kuron? Of course it was him, it all makes sense now." he growled a bit and pressed a bit too hard on one of Keith's wounds making him yelp. "Sorry."

"So I take it you know that guy then?"

"Yeah, you could say that." he replied sadly. "He's my brother."

"Your brother?" Keith frowned. They did not appear to be similar at all, at least in size so it was a bit hard to believe. "What happened?"

"When we became of age the two of us both received the call from the Wild Mother to start her Trial. Kuron was very supportive of me then even though I am only half Felari. Both of us completed the first trial easily. After that we would continuously get the call from the Wild Mother at the same time and we were keeping pace with each other. One time, however, Kuron failed his trial and I passed him. It happened a few times and he began growing jealous of me as I moved further and further ahead of him. I became the strongest in the village and at that point his jealously turned to resentment and hatred. He was the one who began speaking out against me. Being a true Hunter had always been his dream, for me it was just a duty and I would have been equally as happy with a different purpose."

Keith pulled Shiro into a hug and just held him and rubbed circles into his back. Shiro let out a long sigh as he melted in his arms, face quickly finding his neck, and wrapped his own arms around him being careful not to squeeze too tight and cause him pain.Shiro was silent for a moment as Keith held him.

"Keith, I'm scared."

The admission caught him by surprise. "What is scaring you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know what is going to happen to you. If the Elder decides that you are a threat to the tribe, they will kill you. They could keep you locked up for years before they decide and may even hurt you more before then. I promised you that I would help you find your way home but now I don't know if I will be able to keep that promise." he curled tighter in his arms. "I don't want that to happen. I want you to get back to the stars."

"You're not worried about yourself?" he cupped Shiro's cheek and lifted it up so he could see his face. "I can take anything they throw at me. If they try to do anything to you, I won't just sit by and watch." he leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. "As long as we stay together I know that we can get through this."

"Promise?"

"I promise."


	7. Day 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about Shiro and where he came from and they have a proper conversation with the Felari Elder, aka Shiro's father. They also finally go and investigate the strange tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the chapter mix up! This is where we start doing time skips (keep not of the chapter names) so I had skipped to the next one that said chapter 7 instead of what should have been next.

It was a full week before they saw anyone other than a single guard who would bring them food and water every day. By the third day in the cell Keith had started planning on how to escape but when he'd told Shiro, he had strongly recommended against it. Deciding that he did not want to risk being killed, he decided to be patient. He did not want to bring any unnecessary danger to Shiro either so that was even more motivation to behave and wait. His body was sore from his wounds and from being stuck on a stone floor for so long that it was putting him in a bad mood so it was a challenge not to attack the guard whenever he showed up.

The waiting finally paid off when the guard returned and this time Kuron was with him. The Hunter unlocked their cell door and signaled for them to follow him. When they got outside, Keith's eyes slammed shut against the bright light he'd been without for a week.

"Kuron..." Shiro started, a hand slowly reaching out towards his brother.

Kuron slapped his hand away with disgust. "Do not touch or speak to me, traitor."

Shiro recoiled quickly as his eyes filled with pain. His head dropped, his ears lay flat against his head, and his tail went between his legs. Keith reached over and squeezed his hand, which Shiro returned, but his head stayed lowered.

Kuron's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "Keep walking."

They went down the path towards the village but then veered off onto a smaller one that led deeper into the jungle.There was a simple fence built up to prevent the jungle from reclaiming the stone path that had been placed here to make travel easier. The path lead through the trees and towards the sound of running water which turned out to be a steaming pool of a natural hot spring. There were two piles of clean clothes sitting on some rocks to the side along with a bucket and some bathing supplies inside of it.

"You have ten minutes."

Keith and Shiro quickly stripped out of their dirty clothes and went in to clean up. The hot water felt good on his body after being in the cave for so long but he didn't have time to enjoy it. He quickly scrubbed his body with some kind of soap he was given, making sure to clean the wounds he could reach, then dunked under the water to scrub his hair. He was finished washing with a couple minutes to spare so got out and quickly got dressed, having a feeling that Kuron would drag him off regardless if he was wearing anything or not. Instead of wearing the provided loincloth, Keith quickly dunked his Blades uniform in the water and began scrubbing as much blood out of it as he could. With time running out, he pulled it on just as Shiro got out to pull his own clothes on.

Shiro made a face at the clothes that he had been provided with. Not only were they not the appropriate attire for a Hunter let alone a Warrior, they were the type of clothing a home bound wife would wear. The clothes were meant to hurt Shiro's pride and ridicule him. Shiro debated putting them on for only a moment before kicking them aside and putting his own clothes back on despite the fact that they were dirty. Kuron glared at him but said nothing about the fact that neither had put on the provided garments. It apparently wasn't important enough to him to threaten them about it so instead he just led them back to the path.

"The Elder is waiting to speak with you. If either of you try anything, know that you will be met with a swift end." Kuron warned as he brought them to the large hut in the center of the village. Warriors waited around outside as they entered and they found themselves alone with the Elder. Kuron went and stood guard at the door, crossing his large arms over his chest and locking his eyes onto Keith.

"Please, sit." The Elder motioned to the two cushions sitting on the floor across from him. They weren't proper chairs but anything was better than the cave floor at this point. "I think I have a better understanding of your nature now." he said as he took in Keith's appearance again. "The fact that you remained in your cell even with your weapon speaks a lot about you. I am ready to listen to what you have to say and may help you if I am able to."

Keith let out a long breath he didn't realize that he'd been holding. "Thank you." he said with a slight bow of his head. "As I told you before, I was flying on my way back to my base after my mission when something hit my ship. I was losing control of the ship when suddenly there was a bright white flash. By the time I could see again, I was crashing down onto your planet. I tried calling for help but I don't have any signal here."

"Tell me, when you saw this light did you also happen to hear anything?" The Elder asked, fingers playing with the long fur on his chin.

Keith frowned. "The only thing that I heard were all of my alarms going off. If there was anything else, I did not notice. Now that I think about it, there was and odd warmth before the light faded."

"I see. How very interesting. Shiro's mother described something very similar happening to her when she arrived here." The Elder turned his attention to Shiro who had been sitting there quietly with his hands balled into fists on his lap.

"What?" He asked, eyes going wide and ears perking up at the mention of his mother.

"Why are you so surprised? You know that you are not full Felari and that we are the only beings here. Where did you think you came from?"

"I don't know. I don't remember anything about her since she vanished when I was young."

"What do you mean vanished?" Keith asked, brows furrowed.

"I am sure that you have seen the black tower sticking out of the ground?" Elder said and Keith nodded. "Many centuries ago that appeared out of nowhere and gave off an unsettling vibe. I always cautioned our people to stay away from it after there were some accidents when some when to investigate it. It was awhile after that when Shiro's mother Sirina appeared, just like you did, by crashing to our planet after seeing a white light. She was the first alien that we had seen and she certainly was an odd one having no fur at all like you. We quickly became friends once we realized how much we could learn from each other. She was fascinated with our culture and planet and wanted to learn everything that she could about it. A short year later Shiro and Kuron were born." The Elder shifted in his seat, his very long and white fluffy tail coming around to rest on his lap, his clawed fingers running through the long hair picking out knots.

Keith could feel Shiro becoming anxious beside him and he reached out and took his hand in his and gave it a squeeze. Shiro squeezed it back but didn't look at him.

"If I am understanding this right, you are Shiro's father?"

The old Felari chuckled. "I am, however he has not seen me as such since he left the tribe."

Keith winced as Shiro's claws extended slightly and dug into his hand, his grip tightening around his with restrained anger. "What happened later?"

"Shiro was a kitten of five when his mother decided that she wanted to go and study the tower and the odd energy that it was putting out. I was strongly against it but she was very stubborn and in the end I gave in. I gave her the condition that she could only stay one week and that she had to take some of the Warriors with her for protection. When she left that morning I had a bad feeling in my gut but I ignored it and watched her leave. I never saw her again after that."

"Did any of the Warriors that were with her see what happened?"

Elder nodded. "Only one of them returned and he was very sick in the mind with fear. He said that the tower had opened for her and allowed them inside. There were strange lights and then a loud humming sound before a burst of light. When the light vanished, so had Sirina along with the warriors who had been inside the tower with her at the time."

Things were coming together in his mind and once again he had hope. "It sounds like there could be some kind of teleporter inside the tower. Maybe it did not have enough power to allow her to get back or maybe it was one way only. Either way I need to check out this tower as soon as possible."

"What is a teleporter?"

"It is a way to transport someone, or objects, very far distances in the blink of an eye. I'm not the one to talk to about all the technical jargon for it, sorry." Keith rubbed the back of his neck. This would be a great time for Pidge to be here. "Has anything else happened with or around the tower since it's been here?"

"The lights." Shiro said, eyes widening a bit. "Sometimes a light would come out of the top and shoot up into the air but it would only last a few seconds."

"Yes now that he mentions it, I think the tower did send out a light the day that you appeared."

Keith bowed his head low this time. "Elder, please allow me to leave. I need to go investigate that tower and try to get home. Thousands of lives are counting on me and I can't wait. Please."

"I have a feeling that you would try and fight your way out of here if I were to say no." The Elder chuckled. "I am not holding you here as a prisoner. I just needed to make sure that you were not going to be a threat to us if we released you. I understand that this is important to you, but please exercise caution when you approach the tower. You may leave when you wish."

"Thank you." Keith got up and only then realized that he was still holding Shiro's hand. He started to let go but his fingers tightened around his. "Shiro?"

"I am going with you." he stood up next to him and held his gaze. "Whether you want me to or not."

"Of course," he said with a soft smile. "You promised that you'd take me."

"Shiro, I wish that you would reconsider. I'd like it very much if you stayed here so that we could catch up on things. It's been half a century since I saw you last."

At the Elder's words, Keith stared. "Wait, how old are you?" he asked Shiro who laughed and gave a shrug.

"Our kind live for many centuries, but I am only seventy five."

"Still a kitten." The Elder said then held up his hands at the glare he received. "I am only teasing. You've already proven that you have what it takes to be a Hunter. I do not think of you as a child."

"I have a friend, an Altean, who also has a much longer life than we humans do. Age does not really hold much meaning to me anymore, just someone's character." Keith had bitten his tongue before he had responded. He'd almost said a line so cheesy that Lance would have been proud.

"Well we are not actually naturally quite so long lived. We can extend our lives by drinking a potion made from a Gae fruit seed. Since Shiro is only half Felari, I do not know what his normal life expectancy is should he not imbibe the potion."

Shiro shrugged. "It does not matter to me nor is it important." he tugged on Keith's hand as he moved towards the door. "It is still light out so let us be on our way."

"Please be safe." The Elder wore a sad expression on his face which Keith saw before they left but Shiro did not as he didn't even spare him a look on the way out.

Kuron eyed them both when they got to the door, giving Shiro a hard look before he pushed up his mask. His face was covered in the hunters marks showing that he was in face a full Hunter. What startled Keith was the fact that he looked exactly like Shiro except that his hair was black and hung to shoulder length with a streak of white through his bangs and his eyes were more like liquid silver than Shiro's stormy grey. Keith looked between the twins and still marveled at such a size difference.

"If you survive your trip to the tower, please come back. We have things that we need to discuss." He spoke to Shiro and said it so softly that Keith almost didn't hear it. "Also, your tiger has been prowling around outside of the village so make sure to take the beast with you before we decide to hunt it." Just before the door shut behind them he added, "May the Wild Mother protect you."

Shiro walked in silence through the village, still not letting go of Keith's hand, as they made their way to the entrance. The Felari were still watching them warily as they passed through the village but nothing was thrown at them this time and they weren't being talked about. Keith got the suspicion that they had been told about who they were and what was going on. He would love to take the time to look around and get to know the Felari more, but time was not something he had right now. Maybe once he was able to at least relay the information he'd learned back to Kolivan he could back here. Until then, his mission was to get to the tower and figure out of there was a way for him to get home.

Once they were outside of the wooden fence that protected the village, Shiro turned and wrapped his arms around Keith in a hug.

"Hey, what's wrong? You're shaking still."

"I didn't think that I would be allowed to leave. I thought....you didn't see the chains, did you."

Keith frowned up at him. "What chains?"

Shiro pulled away from him. "On the floor next to the Elder were chains. If we had not given responses that pleased him he would have chained us up. Kuron was also ready to attack us at any given point during that conversation. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time we were there." he shivered and rubbed the back of his neck. "My hair is still standing on end."

"I'm surprised that things did go that well for us. Normally when something like this happens to me I end up having to fight my way out. I'm glad that didn't happen." Keith ran his fingers through Shiro's hair and scratched behind one of his ears. He smirked a bit when the deepest purr rumbled in his chest.

Shiro pulled away with a blush. "Don't go relaxing just yet, we still have to get to the tower and get inside."

They had not been outside of the village long before a roar was heard and Briar came running up to them. She dropped low and immediately began licking both of them as soon as they were in reach of her. She used her large paws to grab them and pulled them closer so that she could rub her faces all over them. Both Shiro and Keith laughed as the large cat showed them how much she missed them and it was a few minutes before they were able to escape her fluffy grasp.

"I missed you too!" Keith said while still laughing, his hands reaching up and scratching behind Briar's ears as best as he could. "It looks like you had a rough time while we were away."

Shiro was inspecting the wounds that Briar had received after being left defenseless a week ago. Most of the scratches were already mostly healed up and other were minor and nothing to worry about. Shiro hugged her tightly for a moment before he climbed up onto the beast's back.

"Time to make good on my promise."

It was only a days ride on Briar's back from the Felari village to the base of the black tower. Before they had even come to a stop Keith could feel the energy in the air making the hair on his arms stand up. While the tower was mostly covered in vines and other plant growth he could still tell that this tower was not natural and could very well be a ship of some kind. The part that was sticking up out of the chasm was the size of a Galra battleship; and that was just what was visible. Looking over the edge down in the the chasm he could see that part of the tower was submerged in the lava, which did not appear to be having any effect on it.

"Do you know where there's an entrance?" Keith asked as he started pulling at vines trying to find a door or maybe a maintenance hatch that would allow him access to the interior.

"I do but it's going to be a dangerous climb." Shiro slid down off of Briar's back and rubbed her nose. "Sorry girl, you're going to have to wait here for us." the tiger made a worried sound. "I know, I'll be careful."

Shiro and Keith circled around the tower until they found a place where they could start climbing up. Shiro led the way slowly since he did not know how solidly the vines were holding onto the tower. It would not be good for either of them if they gave way; it was a long way down from where they were. The vines did hold with no signs of letting go as they climbed higher and higher. Their pace slowed down once the vines started to thin out and they had to get more creative with how they proceeded.

"I think it was around here but things look a bit different." Shiro pulled at some vines tying to uncover the tower more. "Ah, I think this might be something."

Keith climbed up beside him and found a large panel that was slightly raised higher than the rest of the area around it. He pulled at more vines and revealed a small touch pad. Touching it had no effect. He brought up his computer display and pushed some buttons on it. "It looks like there is a hatch here but there is no power so we can't open it. Maybe I can to try and by pass it." He tried everything that he could but the panel remained unresponsive. "Dammit. Looks like we're going to have to find another way in."

"We can try the way I came in last time. This is where my mother and her team had entered so I thought it was our best bet."

"Maybe if we had come a few decades earlier. My sensors are picking up that there is power running through this tower but it is very weak. It is probably not enough to power much of anything anymore." he sighed and started climbing back down. "Where is the entrance that you used?"

"It wasn't an actual entrance. Part of this thing was damage when it arrived and I simply went through the hole that was torn through the side. I found it on accident."

"I hope that you can find it on purpose this time."

They quickly made their way back down to the ground where Briar was waiting for them. The large cat greeted them with headbutts.

"The way I got in is very dangerous. We have to go underground and with the tremors that happen around here sometimes there is a chance that it's caved in. There is also a chance that it has flooded with lava."

"We have to go that far down?" when Shiro nodded, he grit his teeth. "It doesn't matter, I have to try and get in here no matter what. If the way in collapsed or it's filled with lava, we'll just look for another way in. If that fails, then I will make my own way in. I'll tear this place apart with my bare hands if I need to." He really wished that Kosmo was here with him now. Having a teleporting wolf came in handy at times.

Shiro frowned and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know how much getting home means to you but please do not be reckless in your desperation. Patience yields focus."

The tower sat in the ground at the start of the chasm and so to get to the other side they simply had to walk around the back of it. Due to its massive size, it still took them an hour to get there. Shiro turned away from the tower and started moving towards a rocky area not too far away. After climbing up the rocks he looked down into a large hole in the ground.

"This is where I fell in. The ground looks a bit more stable now but still be careful." Shiro went into the large hole slowly with Briar following behind, the tiger just able to fit through the opening. "It's slopes down so watch your footing!" There was a loud meow a moment later as Briar went sliding down ahead of them and out of sight. "Briar!"

"I'm sure she'll be okay, don't rush ahead!" Keith quickly caught up to Shiro and grabbed hold of one of his hands so they would not end up separated. As his bare feet slid on the smooth stone, he realized that he should have asked for some shoes before they left the village. He winced as he feet were scraped by the stones but being barefoot allowed him to catch himself with his toes. "I really hope that there isn't any lava waiting at the bottom of this."

"There won't be." he tugged on his hand hard enough that he stumbled forward. Keith fell into Shiro and the two of them went down.

"Oh shit!" Keith yelled out as they were now sliding down the rocky slope on their backs.

They were picking up speed fast enough that it was impossible to get a good enough grip to stop. He tried to use his blade to catch himself but it was pulled from his grip and went sliding down the slope ahead of them. Shiro was laughing as they slid down and soon Keith found himself laughing as well. If he was laughing then in meant they were not in danger. At least for the moment.

They continued to slide down, the path taking them around stone columns and even up the side of the wall at one point. Shiro grabbed Keith at one point and wrapped his arms around him then used his feet to steer them down a tunnel when there was a fork. They ended up spinning around and going down head first which made Keith nervous. He slowly managed to get them turned back around feet first but when he tried to sit up Shiro pulled him back down.

"I wouldn't sit up if I were you. Low ceilings coming up!"

The ceiling quickly dropped until it was too low for anyone to stand up in let alone sit up. Keith held his breath as a few low hanging areas brushed past them, one stalactite low enough that the point of it cut his cheek as they passed under it. He winced at the sting and how narrowly it had missed his eye.

"How much farther is it? We've been sliding for ten minutes!"

"There is a drop any time now! It's not a big one but don't let go of me."

They slid around a corner and then Keith saw the end of path they were on. He held onto Shiro tightly as they went over the edge then fell to the ground about ten feet below. The landing was not as bad as it could have been. Moss covered the ground here and had provided a little bit of cushion to their fall. They had ended up in a small cavern that was glowing faintly due to bio-luminescent plants and bugs. Keith rolled over onto his back with a groan, arm still firmly wrapped around Shiro's waist..

"Hm, Briar must have come out somewhere else. She'll find us." Shiro shifted closer to him and put his head on Keith's shoulder. "Be quiet and don't move. You're going to like this."

Keith fell silent, mostly from confusion, but when the cave started getting brighter a moment later his eyes went wide.

Small glowing transparent orbs began to float down from the ceiling that looked like bubbles. They varied in size and color and when they touched each other they bounced apart and scattered around the cave. When some of them had floated down within reach, Keith reached out and caught one gently in his fingers. He squeezed it and found the texture to be very similar to a marshmallow. The bubble did not pop when he squeezed it and when he opened his hand it floated away. The two of them lay there for a few minutes to catch their breaths, watching as the lights danced around them.

"Do you know what they are?"

"Yes, they're offspring from those." She pointed to a brightly glowing plant that was growing in the corner of the cave. "They float up between the cracks to the surface and then scatter. Once they are in a suitable environment, the bubble pops and releases the pollen inside. Don't worry, they are completely harmless."

Shiro sat up and looked down at Keith, his hand moving to brush the hair from his face. He frowned as he saw the cut along Keith's cheek just under his eye. "If that had been deeper it would match your other one." he leaned down and licked the cut to clean up the small amount of blood there. "You're not hurt anywhere else are you?"

"No but I may need new clothes after this." Keith chuckled as he sat up, ripping off the tattered remains of the sleeves of his uniform and tossing them aside. It was too hot here for them anyway. "If we had slid down the rocks any longer I think my pants would have split open."

Shiro laughed at that. "Oh right. The material your clothes are made out of is pretty flimsy. I should get you some leathers from the Shieldoon. Nothing can pierce though their hides and they last forever." he gestured at his own pants which were made of the leather. He got up off of the ground and moved towards something that caught his eye. Lying on the ground a few feet away was Keith's Marmora Blade. He picked it up and brought it to him. "Looks like you dropped something."

"Oh thank god, I thought I'd really lost it this time." He took the blade from Shiro and resheathed it. He got to his feet and brushed as much dust off of himself that he could. He felt for any holes in his pants just in case but thankfully found none. His face turned up again as the globes of light fell down around them. He stepped forward and brushed some of them out of Shiro's hair and he reached up to do the same for him.

"They really like you." Shiro said with a smile. As soon as he brushed them off they just floated right back to land on Keith. "I don't blame them, you are rather cute."

He laughed, "In that case you should be buried in them." his fingers moved from Shiro's hair to trail down his cheek and over one of his hunters marks. "Shiro..." Keith went up on tip toes to bring their faces closer and their lips barely brushed before a roar echoed through the cave.

"Oh, there she is." Shiro said as he turned his head to see Briar peeking at them from a hole in the wall. "I knew you'd find us."

The tiger squeezed her way through the hole after clawing it wider and then landed on the ground beside them. She looked at Keith for a moment, made a sound, then started walking farther into the cave. His face was burning from embarrassment. He'd felt like Briar had been judging him just now.

"Looks like she found our way in. Come on." Shiro grabbed Keith's hand and the two of them followed after the tiger.

The path through the cave was short until they reached the hole in the side of the tower. Some stones had fallen in the way making the opening too small to squeeze through, but with some muscle they were able to move enough rock to widen the opening. Inside everything was smooth and black just like the outside had been. Keith could hear a very low hum coming from all around him and a soft green glow came from between cracks in the walls and floor. The odd energy was even stronger here and it made Keith shiver. Shiro followed behind Keith down the hall, his grip tight on his spear, and Briar walked behind them, the tiger having just enough room to fit in the narrow halls.

Keith tapped the button on his glove and brought up his screen. "It looks like there should be a control room of some kind one floor above us. We need to look for a ladder or maintenance hatch so we can get up."

It took a few minutes of searching before the found another panel on the wall. Keith touched it and it turned on then a door opened leading to an elevator. The place seemed to be running on emergency power but he decided to take the risk and got on the elevator. He didn't want to waste time looking for another way up if the elevator was operational. Shiro and Briar were both reluctant to get on the elevator but did after some coaxing from Keith. Shiro clung to him when it started moving up and Briar squeezed herself between them and one of the walls, ears down and eyes wide with fear. As soon as the doors opened again both Shiro and Briar bolted out into a very large room.

The room held about a dozen chairs all facing forwards, two doors on the east and west side of the room, and at the front of the room was a large screen surrounded by smaller screens. Below the screens was a control panel that was faintly glowing with power. Keith approached the control panel and began looking for a way to fully turn it on. After a few random button presses the sounds of something starting up filled the tower and it vibrated slightly. The screens all came to life; the largest one was showing a map of the galaxy while the smaller screens around that were showing different areas of the planet that he was on.

The map of the galaxy had him frowning. The only thing showing on it was the planet that he was on, apparently called Viridian, a sun and a moon. There were no other planets around them no matter how far he zoomed out on the map. What he did see was a white glow around the planet that he could not figure out what it was or where it came from. He pressed a few more buttons and the humming grew louder before he heard something fire. Looking at the screens, he could see a large beam of light shoot from the tower and out into space. It looked like the same light that he had been caught up in.

"Can this help you get home?" Shiro asked as he looked at the screens with wide eyes. He was curious despite being wearing of the alien ship and couldn't help but start wandering around the room.

"I don't know." he switched to his communicator and tried connecting to his base again but got nothing. When he tried contacting the Atlas and Voltron his eyes flew wide as he connected. "Allura, is that you?"

"Keith?!" Allura's voice could be heard from the other side, surprise and relief audible in her words. "Thank god. We've been looking everywhere for you. We've only found debris of your ship. Where are you?"

"I, uh, I'm not quite sure. I'm in some kind of black tower right now on a planet called Viridian."

The other line was silent for a few minutes, Keith assumed Allura was talking with the others. "Keith, Coran says that Viridian is a planet that disappeared over ten thousand years ago, before Altea was destroyed. What are your coordinates?"

"If you are where you found the debris from my ship, then you are in the right place. I was caught up in a strange white light and the next thing I knew I was crashing here." Keith read off the coordinates that were shown on the screen. "The tower shot off a light just a moment ago. I can see if I can do that again and maybe it will help you find me."

"Have you run into any of the locals while you were there, by chance?" This time it was Coran who spoke.

"Yes, the Felari. One of them is actually with me here now. He's the one who brought me here and even saved me when I first crashed." He looked at Shiro who stood near by and he looked sad for some reason.

"Wow, that is simply amazing! The Felari were a great and noble race of people. I had the pleasure of working with some once with King Alfor. If you needed help with anything nature related they were the ones you wanted to go see. Not to mention they were extremely talented beast tamers!"

"Yeah, they are." Keith smiled and scratched Briars ear when she started sniffing at the controls. "How long will it take you to get to me?"

"Hm, well we're technically already at your location but there is nothing here."

"Keith, you mentioned some kind of light. Try and get that working again and it may give us some ideas on how to reach you." Allura said.

"Try and keep it going too!" Coran added, "If the bursts are too short we may not be able to get enough readings to figure out what we're dealing with."

"Got it."

Keith began pushing the buttons and found the one that sent the light about before. Some bars appeared beside it and he dragged them up hoping they were what increased the power out put. The beam grew bigger and flickered a bit before becoming solid.

"I don't believe it. Whatever you just did opened a white hole out here!" Coran said excitedly. "We can come through in just a few minutes!"

Keith looked back to where Shiro was now sitting in one of the chairs, his knees pulled up to his chest and his face hidden.

"Wait, don't come through just yet. The people here are still pretty primitive. There is no tech here whatsoever aside from this tower which wasn't even created by them. Let me go back to the village and inform the Elder that you will be coming. This way there is less likely to be panic and they won't attack you."

"That sounds like a good idea." Allura said. "How long do you need?"

"Two hours should be enough. When you come through, come to this position. It's only a short distance to the village from there and I don't know what would happen if you got too close to the jungle. The plants here rapidly grow and degrade anything not natural from the earth."

"Maybe we will just send the lions through in that case. They are made from a meteor so that should be safe. We will contact you once we arrive."

"See you soon, Allura." The call was disconnected and Keith let out a sigh. He was finally going to be going home and back to where he was needed.


	8. Day 13 pt2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro take their relationship a step further. The other Paladins finally arrive. Laughter and embarrassment ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update for this one! Things have been super hectic for me this weekend. I hope the smut in this chapter makes up for it!

Shiro was silent on the way back to the village and would not look Keith in the eye. As soon as they arrived, Shiro and Briar both disappeared. Hoping that they did not go far, Keith made his way to the hut where the Elder tended to be. Sure enough he found the man inside with a few other people. The Elder dismissed the others once he saw Keith arrive then signaled for him to sit beside him.

"I see that you were successful in reaching the tower. Even now it still glows."

Keith nodded. "Yes, I was able to contact my friends. They will be arriving in about an hour and a half in their ships. I told them to land near the tower so they don't scare anyone but I wanted to let you know so you could inform your people."

The Elder rubbed his furry chin. "It has been a long time since we've had an outside visitor, and now we are having more in such a short time. I will inform the warriors to be on guard but that they are friends that are coming."

"Thank you. We will be gone soon so I hope that we do not disturb you any longer than necessary."

"Oh no, I am quite looking forward to speaking with them. I will have the others prepare a meal to greet them with."

At the two hour mark Keith was back at the tower but he had not seen Shiro or Briar since earlier. He had thought that he would be excited to meet his friends since that is what he had said before, but apparently something had changed while in the tower. He did not have much more time to think about the cause before the lions were touching down and the Paladins were exiting them. Even Black was with them, probably having sensed it's Paladin was now within reach.

"Keith, you look a bit different from the last time that I saw you." Allura said as she approached her friend and gave him a hug. "It appears that your Galran side is coming through more. You've even started turning purple!"

"Ah, yeah." he reached up and rubbed at his ears. "I thought the change was only temporary but I guess not. So much for being human."

Allura smiled. "You're still you."

The others soon bombarded him with hugs until he was surrounded by his friends like the time he last left to go work with the Blades.

"Man we thought you were dead!" Lance punched him in the arm after they all broke apart.

"I almost was. I was injured when I crashed and immediately after I got out of the ship I was attacked by these dog like creatures. Shiro saved me." Again Keith looked around hoping that he would show up. "I am not sure where he is right now, but I hope you'll be able to meet him."

"It looks like some others are coming out to greet us." Allura said as she noticed a small group of men heading towards them.

"Oh wow, they really are cat people like Coran said." Hunk said excitedly. "Very, very large cat people."

When the Elder and the few others that had come from the tribe stopped before the Paladins, they towered over them. The warriors were in their leather armor and held their spears up, not in a threatening manner, but there if they were needed. Kuron stood beside the Elder with his mask in place looking as intimidating as ever. It was obvious that he was not too happy with the arrival of more strangers but he did as the Elder asked. Keith sword that he heard Kuron growl under his breath at his friends.

The Elder stepped forward with a toothy smile and held out a paw to Allura. "Welcome to our home travelers. I am pleased you were able to make it here safely."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Elder. I am Allura and these are Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, the Paladins of Voltron." she pointed to each in turn.

The Elder shook each of their hands in turn. "Shall we? If you follow us this way we can bring you to our village where a large feast awaits you."

"Ooh, food!" Both Hunk and Lance said in unison.

Pidge looked back at the tower. "Food does sound nice, but I'd love to get inside and take a look at this thing."

"Come on Pidge, this will be here later. You should come with us and meet our new potential allies." Allura said and put a hand on the smaller girls shoulder. "It would be rude not to accept their invitation."

She sighed. "Alright, food first."

When Allura and the others arrived at the village they were met with warm welcomes though it was obvious some of the Felari were still unsure of these new aliens. None of them were violent like when Keith had first arrived, but many of them were trying to avoid them. Coran and Hunk were the first ones to go over to a group and integrate with them and slowly they started to warm up to the group.

There were large tables put in the large hut in the center of the village where the food was waiting and everyone took seats there. The Elder introduced everyone and told his tribe more about the tower. While this was going on, Keith kept looking towards the door in worry. He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Allura giving him a look of concern.

"Is everything alright?"

Keith sighed, "I honestly don't know. I don't know why Shiro would have taken off before meeting all of you. I'd have thought he'd have at least said goodby before I...left." he suddenly stood up as realization hit him. "I have to go. Apologize to the others for me?"

"Where are you going?"

"Sorry, I'll be back!"

Allura watched as Keith took off out of the hut with a frown. The others looked at her with the same expression but she could only shrug.

"Do not worry, they will be back soon." The Elder said having witnessed the exchange. "In the mean time, will you please tell me about yourselves?"

Keith ran outside of the hut narrowly avoiding running into some Warriors standing around outside. He jumped over a cart and and turned quickly to avoid another collision only to be grabbed roughly by the arm and held in place. He looked up into Kuron's now maskless face.

"Why are you leaving? This meal is for you and your friends. The sooner you finish here the sooner you can leave."

"I need to find Shiro, have you seen him?"

Kuron released Keith's arm. "Not since the two of you came back from the tower earlier."

"Damn."

Keith continued to run and left the village and made his way towards the tower. Once there, he climbed inside the Black Lion and took off. He could feel a warmth in his chest tugging him in a certain direction and so that is the way he headed. He realized right away that it was being pulled back to Shiro's home and he urged Black to go as fast as it could. Within minutes they were touching down on the rocky mountain side where Shiro's cave was and Keith was climbing out of Black as quickly as he could. Briar made a noise at him as he rushed past her and yanked open the door to the cave.

The inside was a mess with items tossed all about the floor and things knocked over and left where they fell. Shiro was digging through a chest in the back and tossing things over his shoulder and muttering to himself. He paused and turned his head when he heard Keith come in.

"Keith?" he watched with wide eyes as the other man hurried over to him and wrapped his arms around him. "Is something wrong?" Shiro wrapped his arms around Keith as well and gave him a squeeze before leaning back and cupping his cheek.

"You were just gone, I didn't know if I would see you again." his fingers curled into the light leather along Shiro's back. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Shiro's cheeks turned pink. "I'm sorry I though I'd be fast enough that you wouldn't notice me gone."

"I'll always notice if you're gone, Shiro."

Shiro made a sound in his throat before leaning down and crushing his mouth into Keith's who met him halfway. His arms tightened around Keith's waist and lifted him up until his legs were wrapped around his waist. His hands slid back and squeezed Keith's ass which made him chuckle into Shiro's mouth. The kiss broke for a moment and they grinned at each other with matching pink cheeks. Their lips met again, this time full of hunger, and they both groaned as their tongues met. Shiro slowly lowered them down to his pile of furs and was pleased when Keith kept his legs locked around his waist. Once he had leverage, Keith arched up into Shiro, grinding their groins together with a moan.

As they continued to kiss and grind against each other, Keith felt an odd warmth spreading through his entire body. It wasn't just lust but something more, much deeper, and it made him shudder. His arms and legs wrapped tighter around Shiro and he broke the kiss to gasp for air. As they held each other the heat in Keith's chest grew even warmer. His eyes fell shut and he focused on the feeling surging within him. He swore that he could feel Shiro reaching for him and his own warmth wrapped around his until they were one. He felt Shiro shiver in his arms and when he tried to lean back enough to look at him, Shiro's claws dug into his back and held him in place.

"Shiro?"

"Keith..." Shiro panted against his lips. He took his hand that was on his back and put it to his chest over his heart. "Can you feel it?"

"Yeah." Keith pressed his forehead to Shiro's, their eyes locked, as his hand pressed to his chest. "I've felt something for awhile now even though we haven't known each other for long. It's strange."

Shiro's own hand pressed to Keith's chest. "Our souls have bonded." his voice shook from more than just the lust.

Keith shifted so that his legs were out in front of him and Shiro was on his lap facing him. "What does that mean?"

Shiro leaned forward to steal his lips in a kiss that had him leaning in for more when he broke it. "It means that I am yours and you are mine. That our souls are stronger now that they are together and that our fates are tied together forever."

"Wait, like soulmates?" he frowned a bit.

"Yes. No matter how many times we die and lives we live, we will always find each other."

Keith sat there for a moment a bit at a loss. He never believed in such a thing as a soul mate, but being with Shiro and feeling it for himself, he couldn't deny that there was something between them. Something profound that he couldn't imagine being without now that he had it.

"I love you." the words flowed from his lips on their own but they were honest. "Come with me."

"With you, always. I love you." Shiro's hand slid up into Keith's hair and pulled him in for more kisses.

Just as Shiro had started sliding down the zipper on the back of Keith's tattered Blades uniform, the communicator on his hand started beeping with an incoming call. His head thumped back into the furs and he groaned.

"You should get that. The others are probably wondering where you ran off too." Shiro kissed Keith on the nose before sitting up and moving off of his lap.

Keith pouted as Shiro moved away but answered the call. "Yeah?"

Allura's face came onto the screen, the others visible behind her. "I was calling to see where you were, but I seem to have interrupted you." her brows were raised and her voice was very amused.

"It's fine." Keith huffed and raked a hand through his hair. He shot Shiro a look when he laughed quietly.

"In that case I hope you return to the village soon. This feast is for you as well as us so it's important for you to be here. I'd also very much like to meet this Shiro that you mentioned before, especially if he is the one who saved you." she was moving her had as if trying to look around Keith to spot said man but Shiro was in the wrong spot to be seen.

"Alright, we'll be there shortly." Keith ended the calling and turned to Shiro, his eyes still dark with lust. "Where do you think you're going?"

Shiro had stood up and was starting to put things into his bag while Keith had been speaking with Allura.

"I need to finish getting my things together so that we can leave. Most of this I can leave behind but there are some things I want to take with me."

Keith got up off the furs and moved to stand behind Shiro, wrapping his arms around the mans waist and sliding his hands down the front of him to cup the large bulge in the front of his pants. "I'm not done with you yet." When Shiro's head fell back with a groan Keith took the opportunity to bite at his neck hard. That caused Shiro to cry out and arch into his hands. "Black can get us back to the village in a couple of minutes. There's no need to rush." His fingers traced the outline of Shiro's cock and started rubbing at the head through the smooth leather. He chuckled when he felt them start to dampen. "Unless you'd rather go back like this?"

Shiro brought a hand up and dug his fingers into Keith's thick hair. "Don't you dare stop." he said, voice growling out, before he turned enough to nip at Keith's lips. He rocked his hips back into Keith's and he whimpered as he felt Keith hard through his pants grinding back against his ass. His tail wrapped around Keith's waist and held him close. "Please."

Keith pulled completely away and it nearly caused Shiro to stumble at the sudden absence of a body behind him. When Shiro turned to fully face him, Keith was stripping out of his uniform, pupils fully dilated with lust and a growl in his throat. Once fully naked, his cock hung heavy between his legs and his eyes were burning a brighter yellow than usual. Shiro made quick work of getting out of his pants which was a good thing because Keith was on him as soon as he was out of them. Shiro found himself back down on the furs, Keith on top this time, and arching up with a shout as Keith went straight for his cock.

"K-Keith!"

Shiro's head tipped back and his eyes fell shut at the intensity of the shiver than ran through him. His toes curled into the furs below him and he keened as Keith sucked hard on the spot just below his cock head. A generous glob of precum slid out of his slit and Keith immediately licked it up with a greedy moan. He fisted Shiro's cock as he focused his attention on licking and swirling his tongue around the tip and underside of it, eyes focused on Shiro's face and trying to draw out as many sounds from him as he could.

Shiro did not disappoint him. He was not embarrassed at all about letting his voice out, moans and curses and whimpers falling endlessly from his lips along with Keith's name. His tail thrashed about and an occasional purr made it in between moans.

Keith lifted his head, Shiro's cock slipping from his mouth as he did so, and gave a wicked grin. "You're so sensitive, Shiro." he blew lightly on the heated skin and the other man trembled. "I'm not even inside of you yet."

Shiro reached down and pulled Keith up to him easily to crush their mouths together. He nipped at Keith's lower lip before releasing him. "What are you waiting for then?" his hand slid down between their bodies to take Keith's cock in his hand and gave it a firm squeeze. His thumb ran over the head and used the precum gathered there to help slick the slide of his hand as it slid back down his length. "In you go."

"Wait, Shiro!" Keith let out a startled sound as he found himself pressing against Shiro's entrance and then popping inside. He let out a long groan as he sunk inside of him, the heat tight and already, somehow, wet and ready for him. "You're...how?"

Shiro grinned and clenched around Keith, the smaller male choking out a curse and groan around what sounded like his name. "Convenient, huh?" he mouthed at one of Keith's pointed ears and spoke in a low voice, "My body seems to have been made for you."

That had Keith growling out and snapping his hips forward, driving his cock the rest of the way into Shiro's body until he was fully sheathed inside. "D-don't say things like that to me unless you want me to lose it." he nipped at Shiro's neck in retaliation.

"Hm, and what if I want you to lose it? I want everything you can give me, Keith. Don't hold back." he used his hands to lift his legs and spread himself wider which allowed Keith to sink even farther into him. "F-fuck. By the time we're done, I want everyone to know who I belong to."

Keith's eyes flashed and his clawed fingers dug into Shiro's thighs, pushing them further up until his legs were over Keith's shoulders. He kissed Shiro hard before nipping across his jaw and down to his neck. "Mine." he growled low and started rocking his hips. "Mine, mine, mine." each word was punctuated with another bite to Shiro's neck.

"Yes yours, all yours." Shiro started rocking his own hips, meeting Keith thrust for thrust, as his claws dug into Keith's back to pull him closer. This had him almost folded in half but it wasn't a problem at all. Shiro was much more flexible than one would think for someone of his build.

Keith's thrust were not very fast but they went deep and hard enough that Shiro's eyes were rolling into the back of his head and he could no longer form actual words. Keith also was beyond any coherent speaking, instead resorting to grunts and groans as he put all his effort into pleasing the man under him. He nipped his way down Shiro's neck and across his collarbone where he left another bite before continuing down. He was able to adjust himself enough that he could capture one of Shiro's nipples in between his teeth and he quickly took advantage of it. While his teeth and tongue tortured that one, one of his hands left Shiro's thigh to pinch and twist at the other one turning Shiro into a writhing mess below him.

When Keith felt something soft slide against his stomach, he looked down to see that Shiro had brought his tail up to wrap around his own cock and was lazily stroking it. Keith's eyes widened at the sight before he grinned like a wolf and leaned back to get a better view. The angle change had him hitting Shiro's prostate more directly now and he arched up off the furs with a long groan. Keith turned his face to kiss and nip at Shiro's thigh and he made a choked sound.

"You going to come for me Shiro?" he let out a long groan of his own as Shiro clenched tightly around him. "Fuck you feel so good." his hips started moving faster as he climbed towards release.

"Y-yeah, I'm c-close. Ah!" his claws sank into the furs and his whole body lifted up as Keith moved Shiro's tail to wrap his hand around his cock instead. "Fuck, Keith, gonna-!" he pulled Keith down to him and moaned into his mouth in a sloppy kiss as he released. He whimpered and panted as Keith stroked him through his orgasm, his release shooting out of his cock in heavy spurts up his chest and even hitting his chin. He groaned again as he finished but continued to move to help Keith reach his own end.

"Sh-Shiro!" Keith's moan was cut off as he sank his teeth deeply into the side of Shiro's neck. The heat surging through his body intensified and left his head spinning as he emptied inside of Shiro. Everything when white for a moment but then he was pulled back at the metallic taste on his tongue. He lifted his head and cursed when he saw the blood running down Shiro's neck. "Shit, I'm sorry!" he pressed his hand to the bleeding bite wound in a mild panic.

Shiro shook his head and chuckled softly. "It's okay. I told you that I wanted you to mark me, didn't I?" he reached up cup Keith's face in his hands and pulled him in for a gentle kiss before rubbing their noses together. "Now I really am your mate, Keith." he wrapped his arms his now mate and nuzzled into his neck, inhaling Keith's scent.

Keith felt his cheeks burning but there was a deep peace and happiness inside of him now. "Shiro, will you mark me as well?" he let his head fall to the side to allow better access to his neck. "I'm as much yours as you are mine."

Shiro started kissing and sucking on Keith's pale skin, his hips rocking against him unconsciously and he moaned at the stimulation to his half hard cock. "You sure? We don't have to do this now."

"Positive. Make it permanent...make me yours."

Shiro groaned as his fangs sank into Keith's neck deep enough to make him bleed and to scar. He rubbed a soothing hand up and down Keith's back as the other man whimpered from the pain. Keith arched into Shiro and his arms slid around him to dig his claws into his back. Shiro hissed at the sting but did not tell Keith to stop. He knows that he clawed Keith up pretty good just moments ago himself. When he pulled away from Keith's neck, he licked his lips to remove the blood only for Kieth to claim them in a hungry kiss.

"I want you again." Keith panted against Shiro's mouth as he slowly continued to rock against him.

"As much as I'd love to, your friends are still waiting for us to get back." he gave Keith's ass a little swat before he pulled out of his arms. "You can have me all you want later, I promise."

"And if I want you to fuck me later?" Keith asked and smirked as Shiro visibly shivered.

"Then I will make love to you as many times as you want. Later." It took everything he had to pull away from Keith fully then and get to his feet. He looked down at himself and realized he was quite the mess. The blood and semen were already drying on his skin and he made a face. "I think we need to bathe first though."

Keith laughed and rolled to his feet. "Yeah we did kind of make a mess." his eyes were hungry as they raked over Shiro's naked body, taking in the blood and the cum splattered across his torso. "They probably wouldn't like it if we went back smelling like sex."

After cleaning themselves up the best that they could with what water Shiro had in his cave, they quickly dressed and loaded Shiro's things into the black lion. Briar was nervous about getting on the ship but she eventually followed behind Keith and Shiro. Shiro was excited to fly for the first time and Keith was just as excited to show him. He may have taken a longer route back to the village but hearing Shiro laugh and whoop as they flew around was more than worth the scolding he received from Allura when they returned.

"Allura, this is Shiro. Shiro, this is Princess Allura." Keith introduced the pair and they shook each others hands.

"Shiro, I am pleased to meet you." She smiled brightly as she squeezed Shiro's hand. "I also want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving Keith when he crashed here. Many people would be devastated if anything had happened to him."

"Not to mention that we wouldn't be able to form Voltron again."

Shiro turned to the new voice and saw a small brunette girl with glasses staring up at him. Two others joined her a moment later, the leaner of the two giving him a long look over.

"Pidge, Lance, Hunk, this is Shiro."

"It's an honor to meet you all. I've heard a lot about all of you and have been looking forward to becoming your friends as well." Shiro smiled and Keith chuckled as all three of them actually blushed a bit.

"Sooo, are you two a thing? You are right?" Lance looked between Keith and Shiro. "You look like you were attacked."

Shiro laughed and Keith turned red and started glaring at Lance. "Keith is my mate." he looked at Keith with such adoration that Keith couldn't stop himself from leaning up to kiss him right then.

"Your mate?" Allura asked and turned wide eyes to Keith. Her eyes found the matching bite marks on their necks, not even trying to hide them, and smiled softly. "Congratulations."

"Uh, yeah." Keith rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, the fingers of the other twined through Shiro's. "I hope it's alright that he's coming back with us."

"I don't really know much about what is going on off planet, but I am a fast learner and will do whatever I need to to be of use to you all. I wouldn't want to become a burden." Shiro said. "I am good at fighting and hunting but I have no experience with things like the lions or other machines."

"Don't worry, between Pidge and I we can teach you anything you'd want to know!" This time it was Hunk who spoke up. "Oh man, we need to have a party when we get back to the castle! You have to try some new foods!" his eyes were nearly sparkling with the excitement at being able to feed Shiro. "You look like you eat a lot, but no problem. I can cook anything!"

"Yeah dude, you are huge. What the hell is that?!" Lance said it all quickly and in one breath that it was almost hard to catch.

With a frown, Shiro and Keith both turned to look behind them where Lance was pointing to see Briar coming out of the Black Lion. She stood towering over the others and looking down at them with a tilted head. Since Lance was flailing around the most, she lowered her head to him to sniff at him first. He let out a loud squeak that he would deny ever making and stood frozen in place as he was examined. Briar gave an approving sound before head butting him hard enough that he fell over which made the others laugh.

"Don't worry, she won't hurt you." Shiro reached a hand up to scratch at the tigers chin. "This is Briar, my companion."

"She is so fluffy!" Pidge said and launched herself at the tiger, hands out stretched and dove face first into the tigers thick fur. "Who's a cute kitty?" Hunk joined in with Pidge, both of them petting and cooing at her.

"She wants you to get on her back." Shiro said with a smile when Briar lay down and was staring at Pidge and Hunk expectantly. "Looks like she wants to take you for a ride."

"Whaaa?!" Pidge exclaimed loudly with stars in her eyes. "We can ride her?!" she climbed carefully up and Hunk climbed up behind her. "Whoa! This. Is. Amazing!"

Briar took off with a roar and Pidge and Hunk's laughing and yelling could be heard as they ran around the village.

"Briar will be a big assistance to us when we are helping out the refuges. She can carry a lot at a time and is very strong and fast." Keith said.

"I see." Allura smiled and looked between Keith and Shiro again. "Shiro, I would love to sit down and get to know you better. Now that you are Keith's mate, you are also part of our family."

"I would like that very much."

The feasting and festivities went on for hours and soon all of the Paladins had grown fond of Shiro and he to them. Just as Keith had found, it was hard not to be drawn to him and want to be friends with him. Allura asked Shiro about all kinds of things about life here, how he'd met Briar, about the Wild Mother, and then eventually about his own mother and Kuron.

"Shiro, I hope you don't mind me asking about your family? From what I heard from the Elder, he is your father? And that Hunter named Kuron is your brother? And what of your mother?" Allura was still smiling as she rattled off questions but at the change in Shiro's expression it dropped. "I'm sorry, it looks like that may be a bad topic. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Shiro's hands fidgeted with the table cloth in front of him until Keith took one of his hands in his. "The Elder...I guess he is my father but I have not considered him as such in many years. I'm sorry but I don't want to go into that right now. For my mother, I never knew her so I can't tell you anything about her either. Kuron though, yes he is my brother. Keith says that it's hard to believe that we are twins."

Allura looked down the table they sat at to where the Elder and Kuron sat at the other end. Kuron was glaring at them and being open about it. "I sense there is some history there as well. I am sorry, I did not mean to bring up such a painful topic."

Shiro held up a hand. "It's okay, you didn't know. I will tell you about them at some point but I'd rather today be more happy."

"Oh dear." Allura suddenly said and her eyes went wide. "Your brother is heading this way."

Shiro turned in his seat and looked up at Kuron who now stood behind him glowering down at him. Their eyes met for a moment before Kuron looked away first, his gaze shifting to Keith. Kuron grabbed the back of Keith's collar and yanked him up to his feet.

"You will come with me."

"Get your hands off of me!" Keith snapped and pulled out of the Hunter's hold. "What's your problem?"

"Kuron, no." Shiro said as he stood. "It's already done and fighting won't change anything."

Kuron's nose wrinkled as he looked the two of them over and took in their appearances and scents. "To have let yourself be marked and mated by a weak thing such as this just shows how low you have fallen."

Shiro stood face to face with his brother, glaring up at him, and not intimidated at all by the difference in their sizes. "Keith is a worthy mate; I am the one who is not worthy of him."

"Shiro..."

"Unless he can beat me in one-on-one hand to hand combat, I will not accept this."

"It's not your choice to make." Shiro snapped out, a growl in his voice this time. "Now back off, Kuron or I will be the one you are fighting."

There was a sound of hands clapping and both men turned to look at the Elder who approached them. "Now now, we will have none of this here today. Stand down Kuron, Shiro has already made his choice." When Kuron didn't move, the Elder put his hand on Kuron's shoulder and squeezed it. "I know how you feel, but what's done is done."

"I do not approve!" Kuron growled out again before turning and storming away.

The Elder sighed as he watched his son leave, then turned to Allura with a sad smile. "I am sorry about Kuron, Princess. He has always been the more hot headed of the two of them though Shiro has always been more stubborn." he sat down at the table across from Allura and began to stroke his beard. "I couldn't help but overhear your questions to Shiro about our family. I would be happy to answer any questions for you that you may have."

"Oh, that would be lovely." Allura was still a bit on edge but she still forced herself to smile as she turned towards the Elder to speak with him.

Shiro muttered something under his breath before leaving, pulling Keith along with him. He didn't stop walking until they had gone outside of the village and the noise of the festivities wasn't so loud. When he stopped, he pulled Keith into his arms and held him tightly, face buried in his neck, and let out a long sigh.

"Can we leave now? I don't wish to remain here any longer than necessary."

Keith ran his hands up and down Shiro's back to try and calm him. "You okay? You're shaking."

"The Elder wants me to pretend nothing ever happened and that we are family again. I can't forgive him, or Kuron, for what they did." his fingers curled into Keith's uniform. "Kuron spoke with me earlier and said that he wanted to start over and that he missed me. I believe him, but just now with you..."

Realization his Keith. "He thinks I'm stealing you from him."

"Mn. I guess in a way you are; I am leaving with you. Probably for good too, and I won't be too sad to leave. This place is beautiful but there's no where else I'd rather be than by your side."

Keith chuckled. "You are so sappy."

They stood there for a few minutes just holding each other and kissing until Shiro had calmed down more. Then the next thing Keith knew he was being pushed backwards until his back hit the fence behind him and Shiro was plastering his body to him. Shiro crushed their mouths together and kissed him deeply while his hands slid down Keith's body to squeeze his ass. Keith groaned loudly as one of Shiro's hands slid between his legs and started rubbing and pressing over his entrance. His suit was thin enough that he felt it but not as much as he wanted to.

"Sh-Shiro, we're kinda out in the open here. Someone is going to see us." Keith could not bring himself to push Shiro away and instead found himself arching up into every touch and grinding hard against Shiro's leg in the search for more friction.

"Hm." Shiro simply hummed as he started unzipping the back of Keith's suit, then slid a hand inside once it reached his waist. His hand slid back around to his ass and this time his fingers rubbed and pressed directly over Keith's entrance at the same time he started sucking at their bond mark.

"F-fuck, Shiro." Keith's claws dug into Shiro's back and he couldn't stop the whimper that left him as the tip of a finger slowly entered him.

"Oh my god!" a voice called out from near by.

The voice had both men freezing and looking around wildly to spot the owner. They both looked up to see Briar looking over the side of the fence with Pidge and Hunk seated up on her back. Hunk had his hands over Pidge's eyes with his own slammed shut, both their faces bright red.

"Keith, you're in public!" Pidge cried, "I never expected something like this from you."

Instead of pulling away from each other, Shiro just held Keith tighter to himself and used his body to block their view of Keith. "Sorry but did you want something? If it's not important I'd rather get back to what I was doing." he smirked at the sound Keith made below him.

"Uhh, we were going to as you to take us to the tower but I guess it could wait until...morning." Hunk said as he slowly opened his eyes only to slam them shut again at seeing Shiro's hand still down the back of Keith's suit. "It's kinda late anyway and boy I'm suddenly tired." he fake yawned. "Let's go Pidge."

"What, no I want to go to the tower!" Pidge's yells could be heard as Briar took off with them on her back.

"I can't believe that just happened." Keith said and this time his groan was from embarrassment. "I knew we shouldn't have done this here."

Shiro only chuckled and leaned down to suck more at Keith's neck until the other pushed him away. "There is nothing wrong with what we are doing. There is no one around here so it is fine." his fingers started caressing Keith's ass again.

"No, this is something we should do in private." Keith shuddered and bit his lip to keep from crying out. He actually whimpered when Shiro took his hand away and took a step back which made Shiro grin.

"Well if you really want to stop that is fine. I guess I'd rather have you someplace alone so you're less likely to be worried about others and get distracted. I want all your attention on me only." Shiro pulled Keith's suit back up and slid the zipper back up. "Hm, it is kind of late at this point. Maybe we should go back to my place for the rest of the night?"

Keith didn't know what time it was, nor really care, so he nodded. "Yeah, but let me go let Allura know we're heading out first or she'll just yell at me again later."


	9. Day 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New people arrive, they finally explore the tower properly, then things take a turn for the worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of chapters last week. My step mother lost her fight with cancer so everything has been crazy with that, plus some bad anxiety attacks on top of it. I'm feeling mostly normal now so here are the last two chapters.

"This is incredible! I've never seen anything like this before!" Pidge ran around excitedly inside of the tower, going from console to console with big, shining eyes.

"The Elder said that this has been here for centuries and even he isn't exactly sure how hold it is." Keith was saying as he watched Pidge and Hunk working at one of the screens.

"It is certainly fascinating. It doesn't look Galra or Altean or even Alkarian." Allura stood at the main controls and held her hand flat to one of the panels with her eyes closed. "It feels very, very old though, even older than Altea. Coran, does any of this look or sound familiar to you?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea!" Coran's voice came through the communicator, slightly fuzzy due to the distortion caused by the white hole. "I'm running the data through the castle but have not had any hits yet. In fact, I can't even find any information about Viridian itself, which is odd considering that it obviously exists."

"Keep searching. I'd like to get a better idea of what we're messing with."

"Got it Princess!"

While Pidge, Hunk, and Allura worked in the control room, Keith, Shiro, and Lance were exploring more of the tower and looking for the power source. They were many levels down now and whatever was powering the tower was close. There was a loud hum in the air and vibration in the walls, and Shiro's fur was standing on end. Keith could see that he was nervous so he took one of his hands in his and gave it a squeeze. Shiro squeezed it back and gave him a smile but his tail was still twitching behind him in agitation.

"According to the map, it looks like what we're looking for is just up ahead." Lance looked at his map display with a frown. "I wonder what all these black spaces are on the map?"

Keith shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

The three of them walked down the hall, checking all doors as they passed but finding most locked, before they stopped at the large door at the end of the hall. There was a panel to one side that was glowing faintly but did not respond when Lance prodded at it.

"Maybe there is a maintenance shaft we can go through instead?" he stepped away and started looking at his map again and muttering to himself.

"Shiro?" Keith asked with a frown as Shiro seemed to be focused on the door in front of them.

Shiro walked over and put his hand on the panel and it immediately lit up. A moment later their was a chime and the door slid open to reveal the large room on the other side.

"How did you do that?" Lance asked with wide eyes as he stared at Shiro who was looking at his hands.

"I-I don't know. I just had a feeling that if I touched it it would work."

They cautiously entered the room and moved slowly since the only light was a faint glow in the center of the room. Lance and Keith turned their lights on but it didn't help them much with being able to see what exactly was in there. As they moved towards the glow it gradually began to brighten and then a console lit up in front of it. After messing around with it for a moment the room light up brightly. There was a large orb the size of the crystal which powered the Castle of Lions where the glow was coming from. The surrounding walls were also covered with crystals that were mostly clear but some were in different colors. Many of them were cracked or shattered completely and the ground was covered in the broken fragments and dust.

"Pidge, we've reached the power source. It looks to be some kind of orb crystal...thing." Lance held up his hand to the console and a light came out to connect Pidge to it. "What is this thing?"

"I don't know but its readings are very weak. It would explain why there are only the minimum number of systems running right now. I'm honestly amazed that anything is working considering how old this place is. If we can figure out what this orb is, we may be able to find an almost limitless source of new power. Think of all the things we could accomplish with it!"

While Pidge and Lance worked at the console, Keith and Shiro walked around the edges of the room. Shiro was staring up at the crystals with a frown on his face and he would occasionally rub at his temples.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Shiro reached out and put his hands on one of the crystal, his eyes shutting as he did so, and his frown only deepened. "It sounds as though there is someone speaking but they are too far away for me to make out the words. It's all jumbled and quiet like multiple people all trying to talk at once." when he dropped his hand the spot on the crystal where he had been touching was now glowing faintly.

Keith suddenly had a bad feeling and he did not want Shiro to be anywhere near this room. "Let's go see if the others need help. There's not much we can do here right now." he grabbed Shiro's hand and dragged him out of the room. He did not stop pulling him until they were all the way at the other end of the hall and around the corner.

"Is something wrong? You seem really tense." Shiro brought his hand up to brush his fingers across Keith's cheek.

"That room was making me feel weird, on edge." he turned his face into Shiro's touch with a sigh. "It felt dangerous and I didn't want you in there." The fact that the room seemed to be reacting to Shiro had him very concerned and he didn't like it one bit. The hair on the back of his neck was standing on end and and he reached up to rub at it with a scowl.

"Yeah this place is rather unsettling. Let's go outside for a bit and get some fresh air. I bet Briar will be happy to see us."

They made their way out of the tower using a door that they had found after further investigating when they all had arrived earlier that day. They had to cut through the vines that had been growing up the tower, but now they had an entrance at ground level and no climbing or sliding down steep slopes was necessary. Shiro had admitted that he would miss the sliding which had made Keith laugh and promise that they could do it any time he wanted.

When they got outside of the tower, Briar was in fact waiting for them. Or she was sleeping stretched out in the sun near by so it was close enough. She woke up when she caught their scents and ran over to greet them with a meow and head butts. They started walking in a random direction, fingers interlocked, and enjoyed each other's company in a comfortable silence. The probably walked for about twenty minutes before they stopped to sit on some rocks.

"How much longer do you think that we will be here?" Shiro asked.

"It's hard to say. I know that we won't be able to drag Pidge away until she learns everything that she wants to from this tower. As long as Coran doesn't call us with some kind of trouble, we may end up being here awhile. I've already spoken with Kolivan to give my reports and as of right now I'm off duty with them so I can stay with you." Keith yawned a bit as he stretched out and lay down with his head on Shiro's lap.

Shiro smiled and started carding his fingers through Keith's hair. "So what you're saying is that you have a lot of free time right now." one of his hands slid under Keith's shirt to brush across his toned stomach. He liked these clothes better than the suit he had been wearing before. It made it so much easier to touch him whenever he wanted. Now that they were bonded, he felt the need to touch him constantly. Thankfully Keith was the same.

"Mm. I'm useless with all that technical stuff but I'm good for muscle, which suits me just fine."

"This suits me fine too." Shiro tugged at Keith's shirt until he got the hint and allowed it to be pulled off. As soon as the skin was barred, Shiro splayed a hand across his chest over his heart. Feeling Keith's heartbeat pounding under his hand was comforting.

Keith smirked and turned his face to brush his lips over Shiro's barred stomach. Shiro sucked in a breath at the feeling then groaned when Keith sucked the skin between his teeth and bit down slightly. His tongue began to follow the dips and curves of Shiro's muscles of the ones he could reach. Shiro was starting to pant a bit at the feeling of Keith's mouth working over his skin and he was slowly getting hard, but he didn't touch Keith more than he already was. He'd learned quickly that Keith enjoyed teasing him like this and it didn't always lead to sex. Mostly it did, but he was never sure if he'd be left wound up or if they'd both find release. He rather enjoyed the teasing because it made it even more intense when they finally did have sex.

Keith moved his head back, purposely pressing down and sliding over Shiro's clothed cock making him groan, to look at his handiwork. Red marks littered his stomach and hips and Shiro was flushed and trembling, his pupils blown wide with lust. He sat up then and tugged the thin leather that covered Shiro's chest off of him so they were both bare from the waist up. He ran his hands over Shiro's chest, tweaking his nipples as he did so, and leaned in for a kiss. It was a light kiss that ended with Keith tugging on Shiro's bottom lip before he leaned back again.

"What do you want, Shiro?" Keith said then smirked as he felt Shiro's tail wrap around his waist.

Shiro's hands found Keith's waist and his nails scratched lightly over the skin there. "I wanna suck you off."

Keith's eyebrows rose at that having expected Shiro to ask for the reverse. "Hm..." he got off of Shiro's lap and slid off the rock to the ground. He stripped out of his boots and pants until he was fully naked, then leaned back against the rock and looked up at Shiro with a grin. "Come and get me."

Shiro was down off the rock in an instant and in front of Keith on his knees, looking up at him with heated eyes, before diving right in and swallowing Keith whole. He groaned when Keith arched forward and dove into the back of his throat. Keith cursed and pulled back with an apology.

"Shit, sorry! I wasn't expecting you to do that so quickly." His face was burning.

"It's okay, I want you to." Shiro's lips slid down Keith's length again but this time more slowly until his nose was tickling Keith's pubic hair. He pulled back and did it again but this time faster and harder.

When Keith pulled back afraid of hurting him, Shiro whimpered and tried to follow him. Keith's eyes widened a bit and his hand slid down to rub at Shiro's throat. "You want me to...fuck." he groaned and his head fell back to rest against the rock behind him. "Alright but if it's too much you can tap out. I don't want to hurt you, Shiro."

Shiro gave a nod as best as he could with a mouth full of cock before his eyes shut in bliss as Keith started thrusting into his mouth. Shiro brought his hands up to Keith's hips to help steady himself and he adjusted his angle a bit so he could take as much of Keith's length as he could. He moaned happily at the feeling of Keith's cock hitting the back of his throat and Keith trembled. Every time Keith pulled back Shiro would use his tongue to press and rub at the more sensitive places. His eyes were watering with the strain and his jaw was sore but Shiro wouldn't stop for anything other than Keith telling him to.

"F-fuck Shiro, that feels so good."

Keith's fingers curled into Shiro's hair only pulling slightly and mostly to bring his head to where he needed it. His fingers brushed over the soft fur of Shiro's ears causing him to shiver. His hips pumped forward in a fast and steady rhythm and his orgasm was quickly building. As Shiro sucked and licked at his cock, he felt the other's hands slide around to his ass and start prodding at his entrance. Keith bit his lip and spread his legs a bit more to give Shiro better access.

"Shiro! Fuck, I'm coming!" The double stimulation was intense and soon Keith was bowing over Shiro's head, his fingers digging into silver hair, and crying out as he came.

Shiro swallowed everything that Keith gave him and stroked him through his orgasm. What he couldn't swallow he licked off his fingers which earned him a hot look from Keith. He sat back on his heels after Keith pulled away and he looked up at him looking completely wrecked but satisfied.

"Thank you." his voice was raspy from the abuse his throat just took.

"You're thanking me for that?" Keith asked in disbelief before laughing. "I should be thanking you! That was amazing Shiro." Once again his hand came down and rubbed over Shiro's throat. "How do you feel? That wasn't too rough was it?" his other hand cupped Shiro's cheek to wipe a stray tear away with his thumb.

"No, it was perfect." Shiro grinned up at him. He took the hand on his throat and placed a kiss on it.

Keith licked his lips as he looked down at Shiro. "I should return the favor now, huh?"

Shiro's cheeks turned pink and he looked away. "You don't need to."

Keith's gaze moved lower down Shiro's body and saw that his pants were open and his cock out and half hard. Come covered his stomach in proof that he'd already finished.

"You came just from sucking me off?"

Shiro turned even redder and he bit his lip. "You taste so good, and the sounds you were making..."

Now Keith was the one turning red. "Fuck Shiro, you're going to kill me." he dropped to his knees in front of his mate and pulled him in for a kiss.

Shiro chuckled and leaned his body away so that he wouldn't get Keith messy. He pulled out a handful of grass and used it to clean his release off himself as best that he could before tossing the soiled grass out of the way. If this is how things were going to be between them, then he would have to think of something to keep on him for clean up after. While he loved smelling like his mate, Shiro hated being sticky.

Keith pushed Shiro back until they were both laying in the grass. He wrapped his arm around his waist and snuggled into him. "Do you think we have time for a nap?"

Shiro pulled Keith tighter against him and kissed his forehead. "We're taking one anyway. I don't think anyone will need us for awhile yet, and if they do they can just call us." They then fell asleep naked and entwined together under the warm sun.

The two of them managed a two hour nap before Keith's communicator started ringing. He untangled himself from Shiro's arms and legs and got up to grab his shirt and communicator from on top of the rock. He pulled on his pants before answering the call and turned so that Shiro would not be in view. The other man still lay on the grass snoring softly.

"Yeah?" Keith asked quietly and walked around the other side of the rocks so he wouldn't disturb Shiro.

Allura's face appeared on the screen. "Your mother has arrived with Dr. Slav and Matt."

"My mother?" Keith wasn't sure why she would be coming here but he assumed he'd find out soon enough.

"Slav needed an escort and she happened to be at the castle when he arrived. You also can't blame her for being curious about a new world...and I may have mentioned Shiro."

Keith felt his cheeks turn pink at that. He wondered how his mother was going to react to finding out that he was now mated to someone. He'd never shown interest in anyone before so he knew she'd be shocked to say the least.

"Is she at the tower or the village?"

"Everyone has gone back to the village for a break and food. Why don't the two of you meet us there?"

"Got it, we'll be there shortly."

Keith hung up with Allura and as he did felt a pair of muscular arms wrap around his waist before he could turn. His head tipped to the side as lips found his neck and nipped lightly at his mate mark. He sighed and slid his hands up behind him into soft hair and leaned back against a strong body.

"Sorry you can't sleep longer."

"It's fine, I rested enough." Shiro nosed at Keith's neck and inhaled deeply. "Mm. What did Allura want?"

"My mother and a friend have arrived to help us with the tower. Everyone is back at the village to rest and eat and Allura would like us to head back."

Shiro lifted his head and slowly turned Keith around so that they were facing each other. "Your mother is here? I didn't think that I would be meeting her so soon." He looked down at himself then and his cheeks went pink. "I, uh, think we should bathe first before meeting up with everyone."

"Oh? I thought you liked others smelling me on you and seeing my marks on you?" he leaned forward to press a kiss against Shiro's neck.

"But it's your mother and I want to make a good first impression."

"Alright, I was just teasing you anyway."

After making it back to the village a short while later and bathing, Shiro surprised Keith by finding different clothes from somewhere. Shiro wore a simple shirt and pants made from cotton instead of leather, just like Keith. Over that was a long vest that was embroidered with intricate designs around the hem and on the back with a braided leather belt tied around his waist. He wore a pair of sandals and had groomed his tail. He looked very handsome in the outfit and Keith wasn't sure which he liked Shiro in more.

"How is it you look sexier wearing more clothes?" Keith asked with a grin which had Shiro laughing and a dust of pink to his cheeks. "Is that an earring?" a glint of metal in his hair caught his attention.

"It's just a cuff." Shiro replied with a shrug. "I want to look nice for your mother."

Keith got up from where he had been sitting on a low wall while waiting for Shiro to get ready in someone else's hut. "You always look nice to me. Besides, my mother doesn't care about such things so don't worry. She's going to love you like I do." he placed a kiss on Shiro's still flushed cheeks. "You ready now?"

"Yeah."

The others were waiting in the center of the village where the tables were still set up from the feast from the day before. People came and went, picking at the food when hungry, or sitting and chatting with others. Allura and the other paladins, plus Krolia, Matt, and Slav, were sitting at the tables now discussing the planet and the tower. Those more science inclined were talking and gesturing loudly as they debated theories about the origin of the tower and it's purpose. Allura and the others were more curious about the planet itself and the people who lived there.

When Shiro and Keith arrived, Krolia had stood up from her seat and moved to greet her son with a hug. She then took a step back and took a long, slow look over Shiro that left the man blushing a bit as she appraised him. She held her hand out to him with a warm smile. "Hello I am Krolia, Keith's mother. You must be Shiro." as they shook hands she pulled him a bit closer and grabbed his face in her hand turning it this way and that. "I can see why he likes you. You're big and strong, pretty handsome too. You look like you'll do well as a mate and be able to provide him with everything he needs."

"M-mom!" Keith choked out, face redder than a tomato.

Shiro only laughed and rubbed the back of his neck but grinned. "I will do whatever it takes to give him what he needs and to keep him happy."

Krolia smiled again at that and finally drew her hand away and released Shiro. "Then welcome to the family, Shiro." Krolia sat back down and Keith sat beside her with Shiro on his other side. She leaned over to Keith and whispered in his ear, "We should have him try out for the Blades when you come home. He looks powerful; we could use him."

Keith pictured Shiro in the Blades uniform and he had to fight down the noise that wanted to escape at the image. Shiro fighting beside him on missions, Shiro smiling as they helped out refugees rebuild, Shiro hot and sweaty after a training session, Shiro flushed and panting half out of uniform as Keith pinned him to the wall and fucked him senseless.

"Uh, maybe. I'll talk to him about it later." he had no idea how his voice managed to come out calm and smooth but the way his mother looked at him, a twitch of her lips, told him she probably knew exactly what had just gone through his mind. He quickly turned away from her and grabbed the nearest glass from the table and took a deep drink. He immediately started coughing from the unexpected strong alcohol it contained.

"Keith, are you alright?" Shiro asked as he rubbed his back and took the glass from him before it got dropped. He sniffed at the contents of the glass and chuckled. "Ah. You really don't want to drink this too fast."

"A bit late for that. You should never drink something if you don't know what it is!" Matt laughed from across from them. Apparently it had been his drink that Keith had grabbed. "I asked for something with a kick and that is what they brought me." he took the glass from Shiro and took another small sip from it. "It is good if you don't chug it." he set the glass down and held out his hand to Shiro. "I'm Matt, Pidge's brother."

"I'm Shiro." he said with a grin and shook hands with him. "It seems you and your sister are quite alike. Should I expect the same kind of enthusiasm from you when you get to the tower?"

"Most definitely! But first I'd rather enjoy this party before I go and coop myself up in a windowless tower for who knows how long. With the portal being closed, we could be here for quite awhile."

That caught Keith's attention. "Wait, what do you mean the portal is closed?"

"After we came through, it closed. We've had no contact with Coran since." Allura said but did not look worried. "He knows where we are and that we will be fine while we are here. It is a good thing that this is not an aggressive planet."

Shiro slid his arm around Keith's waist and Keith leaned into him automatically. "I don't mind staying a bit longer." he said and looked up at Shiro who smiled down at him. "I was able to relay my message so I am sure that things will go fine without me for awhile."

Krolia snorted beside him. "There you go still talking like it's you holding the Blades together." she tried to seem annoyed but Shiro could pick up her pride for Keith in the way she looked at him. "Kolivan and the others are taking care of things. That does not mean that you should not try and get back soon though, Keith. There are still sectors where the Galra are violent and refuse to be contained. We can use all the help we can get."

He sighed. "Right."

Shiro squeezed his hip in support. "Keith has told me a lot about his work and what is going on out there. If possible, I'd like to help out in any way that I can."

Krolia nodded. "I was hoping that you would offer. I can't promise you that it will be easy work, and there is plenty of danger still, but I can promise you that I will do my best to make sure you and Keith don't get separated."

"Thank you. I look forward to learning from you."

"You may regret saying that later." Keith said with a bit of a chuckle. "She is a very strict teacher."

"You say that because you are stubborn and think that your way is better." Krolia countered. "Once you finally started listening to me you started to progress faster, did you not?"

"...Yeah. Doesn't change the fact that you're strict!"

They laughed a bit before Krolia got up from her seat and stood beside Shiro. "I'd like to talk with you privately for a bit. Will you come with me?"

Shiro nodded and got up quickly. "Of course."

"Mom please." Keith begged, looking between his mate and mother.

"Hush."

He then watched as she led Shiro away to someplace with privacy.

"Sorry Shiro." he muttered and Allura laughed.

"You can't blame a mother for worrying about her son. Shiro will be fine."

It was a good hour later before the two of them returned and Shiro was a bit red faced and didn't meet Keith's eyes right away. When he finally did, he only blushed more before kissing his cheek.

"You good?"

Shiro nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Keith." Krolia approached him and looked down at him. "You better not do anything to make Shiro sad. You've found yourself a good mate."

Keith stared up at his mother with wide eyes. "I know." he then watched as Krolia left to go talk with some other people. "What was that about?"

"I guess she just likes me?" Shiro replied with a smirk before sitting back down. "We had a good talk, don't worry."

"What did you talk about?"

"You."

"And?"

Shiro held a finger to his lips. "Secret." he laughed when Keith pouted.

After everyone had finished eating they all decided to head right to the tower so that they could unpack and set up all the equipment Matt and Slav brought with them so that they could get started as soon as possible. It took multiple trips to get everything carried in and it was a process that went faster thanks to Shiro and Briar's help. Having finished with that, Briar went back outside and promptly fell asleep in the grass after having wore herself out. Shiro wanted to help set up the equipment but he had no knowledge for technology and only ended up getting in the way. He and Keith went to walk around the tower to stay out of the way but not too far just in case they were needed.

The two of them found themselves in one of the rooms that was set up for lodging. There was only one large bed in this room with a private terminal and even what looked to be a healing pod. They poked around the things left behind in the room, various papers that neither of them could read and lots of books, and soon determined that this was where whoever was in charge stayed. Shiro got the terminal up and running by simply touching it and it again left them both feeling confused. Shiro poked around on it for a few minutes before he jumped back startled when a screen suddenly popped up with Pidge's face on it.

"Oh, so it's you two. I should have known." She pushed her glasses up her nose. "Whatever you are doing, stop doing it. You keep making alarms go off and systems restart. Though you also opened what I thought to be a wall but was just apparently shielding. There are now windows!"

"That's nice I guess?" Keith said.

"The extra light does help. Where are you anyway? You look to be in one of the black areas on the map."

"It looks like a captain's quarters or the equivalent. There is a terminal here and a pod, along with a bunch of papers and books that we can't read."

"Don't touch anything else! One wrong move and you could destroy us all!" Slav had suddenly popped into view and had pushed Pidge right out of the way, his little arms flailing about and his large eyes looking panicked. "Unless....is the bed made or unmade and what is the number of pillows on the bed?!"

Keith and Shiro looked at each other dumbstruck before Shiro looked behind them at the bed. "The bed is made and there are two pillows. The sheets are black if that makes a difference."

"Oh good, then this is one of the realities where the tower doesn't explode and kill us all!"

Slav is pushed out of the way and this time it's Matt's face to fill the screen while Pidge can be seen in the background practically wrestling Slav.

"Sorry about that." Matt said and gave an annoyed look over his shoulder. "He's brilliant but insane. Just don't push anything else until we have a chance to come down and look at that and you'll be fine." he looked between the two of them and snickered. "You're alone until then, have fun!" and the picture vanished while Keith was spluttering.

"You have some really interesting friends." Shiro said. "I'm not too sure about that Slav fellow though."

Keith shuddered a bit. "He's extremely annoying. A genius, but annoying. For some reason it's hard to hate him though."

Shiro slid his hands around Keith's waist and pulled him in for a kiss. "What should we do now? As Matt said, we are all alone now with some time to kill. Got any ideas?" his hand slid down to cup Keith's ass and pull him firmly against his body.

Keith chuckled against Shiro's lips. "You seem to have an idea already."

"Hm." Shiro's hands slid down to the back of Keith's thighs and lifted him up, Keith's legs wrapping around his waist automatically. Shiro took the couple steps to the bed and lowered Keith down on it with a grin. "The bed doesn't have to stay made, does it?"

Keith laughed as he pulled his mate down for a kiss. "What Slav doesn't know won't hurt him."

Just as the two of them were getting hot and heavy making out on the bed, a high pitched alarm sounded for a few seconds before everything went dark.

"Aah!" both men grabbed their sensitive ears as the alarm had sounded and then let out sighs of relief when it went silent.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we can both see in the dark." Keith said. His arms started to slide around Shiro again to pull him back against him but the other was sitting up and then standing from the bed. "Shiro?"

Shiro had gone all rigid and silent, even his breathing had stopped. His head was turned towards the door and his eyes were wide. "Can't you hear it?"

Keith frowned as he watched Shiro head out of the room. "Pidge, what the hell is going on?" he held up his communicator as he went to follow after Shiro.

"I don't know! There was a sudden surge in power and then everything shut off. I'm working on it!"

Shiro headed down the hall towards the crystal chamber, not responding at all to Keith who was calling to him, and his gaze focused ahead. As soon as he stepped inside the room the crystal began to light up again, although faintly. It pulsed slowly like a heartbeat and went faster the closer Shiro got to the crystal. When he finally came to a stop directly in front of it, it was so bright that the others had to shield their eyes against the glow.

"Shiro, what is going on?" Pidge asked from where she was working frantically at her computer. The power was back and she was quickly trying to keep it on.

Shiro's eyes were closed and his head tilted as if he were listening to something. "I don't understand."

"Shiro?" Keith tried to get his attention but it appeared that Shiro couldn't hear him. He moved closer to him but for some reason was hesitant at touching him at the moment. There was an odd vibe in the air around Shiro and he couldn't tell if it were dangerous or not. "Who are you talking to?"

"Hm, he seems to be in some kind of trance, maybe?" Pidge didn't stop her tapping away at her computer but she too was watching Shiro closely. "Maybe he is hearing the voices of the people who used to be here?"

"Is that even possible?"

Pidge shrugged. "I saw Reiner and the other Olkari after they fled the planet like some kind of memory imprint. Maybe it's something like that?"

"Stuck? How can I..." Shiro gasped.

Keith watched in horror as Shiro suddenly started to turn transparent. "Shiro!"

The man in question turned around with wide eyes that glowed silver. "Keith!"

The pair tried to grab each other but their hands passed right through each other.

"Keith!" Shiro's voice and eyes were filled with fear and panic. "Kei-!"

Then Shiro was gone.

"Shiro! Shiro!" Keith lunged forward but his hands connected with nothing. "No, noooo!" in a panic he started pounding his fists on the crystal that was now glowing more brightly than it had before and there was a soft hum in the air.

"Keith, I don't think that's a good idea!"

Just as Pidge finished yelling out the warning, a bolt of energy shot from the crystal and into Keith. Pidge watched in horror as Keith was thrown backwards across the room and slammed hard enough into one of the crystals on the wall to crack it. He fell to the ground in a twitching heap as energy surged throughout his body. When he finally stopped, his eyes were closed and he wasn't breathing.

"Ohmigod, Keith?!"


	10. Day 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'll get him back or die trying."

Keith groaned as he shifted on the hard surface that he currently lay on. His eyes slowly blinked open and he looked around the unfamiliar room he was in with a frown.

"Keith!"

He turned his head towards the voice and found himself being pulled into his mother's arms. Krolia held him tightly to her chest, a hand brushing through his hair, and he could feel her trembling. When she pulled away to look at him there were tears in her eyes.

"Mom? What happened?"

She hugged him again a moment longer before pulling away to sit back on the bed so they were face to face. "You were hurt pretty bad; we almost lost you. It was touch and go the first few days but between the healing pod and Allura, we were able to keep you alive."

"The first few days?" Keith continued to frown as he tried to recall the events that had happened. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Shiro!"

Before he could even start to try and get out of the bed, Krolia had moved much faster and held him pinned down.

"No, you need to rest. Calm down and I will tell you what happened. Please."

It was the soft pleading in her voice that had Keith stop his struggling against his mother. He let out a long breath and gave her a nod as he lay back down against the pillows.

"Shiro is still missing but we think that he is alive." Krolia took on of her son's hands in hers and squeezed it. "The power source was already reacting to Shiro from what I have been told. Dr. Slav is positive that Shiro was sucked into some kind of alternate dimension or another plane of existence. He, Pidge, and Matt have been working non stop trying to figure out how to open a path to get to him."

"It's my fault. I should have pulled Shiro away as soon as I felt that something was off." his free hand clenched into a tight fist and he wanted to punch something badly; something hard enough that it would hurt. Not having anything nearby, he settled for pounding his fist into the bed instead. "I'm so stupid!"

"Keith, you are not stupid, this is new to all of us. There is no way that you could have known that something like this would happen." she reached forward to brush his hair out of his face but he turned his face away from her.

"I'll get him back or die trying."

The words caused Krolia pain in her chest but she knew better than to try and reason with her son right now. She knew the pain he was going through having lost her own mate. "Once you eat some food and get some energy back, you can get up and start moving around again. You'll have to take it slow though as that energy did a number on your body. Even now we don't know what the effects to you are. If you feel that anything is off, you need to alert Allura right away."

Keith moved so he was sitting up against the back of the bed and gave his mother a nod. "I just feel really sore right now and my head is a bit fuzzy." he brought a hand to his chest over his heart and his eyes shut tight with pain. Not from the energy but from losing Shiro. "You said days earlier. How long have I been out?"

"You woke up a couple days ago but were not entirely conscious. You were also violent in your desperation to get to Shiro so we had to tranquilize you. It's been about two weeks since you were hurt."

Keith winced. "Did...did I hurt anyone?"

Krolia shook her head. "Everyone is fine. Thankfully both myself and Allura are quite strong and were able to hold you down before you did any real damage to either yourself or anyone else."

He looked down at his hands and saw that his claws were no longer out.

"You are able to retract them now." his mother said when she saw him looking. "Your fangs are out permanently though and your eyes are still like mine."

Keith flexed his hands and his eyes widened when his claws popped out. He turned his hands this way and that before he moved them again until he figured out how to retract them again. "At least I don't have to worry about accidentally clawing someone now." or himself or Shiro. Thinking of that made his mood drop again.

"I'll let Hunk know that you are awake. He's had some food ready for you in case you woke up soon."

"I'm not hungry."

"Then you'll be staying in bed even longer. I'm not joking when I say you are to stay in that bed until you eat and get your strength back. You probably couldn't even walk across the room on your own right now." Knowing her son, Krolia wasn't surprised at all when Keith immediately swung his legs over the side of the bed to stand up. She watched in amusement as he took two very shaky steps before his legs crumpled under him and he fell to the floor like a baby faun learning how to walk.

"Alright, fine, I'll eat." Keith said, his cheeks burning with embarrassment as he pulled himself back up onto the bed.

Krolia had been gone for maybe five minutes before Hunk was coming into the room with a tray full of food. "Keith! Good to see you awake buddy!"

Allura, Pidge, and Lance came in behind him looking equally as happy to see him awake. Pidge ran past Hunk and threw herself into Keith's arms, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck in a hug.

"You had me so scared! I thought you died!"

Keith awkwardly hugged her back until she let him go and moved out of the way so Hunk could put the tray down on the bed.

"Well, technically he did die." Lance said and then made a sound as Allura elbowed him in the side.

"How are you feeling?" Allura asked with a smile as they all stood around the bed staring down at him. "Nothing unusual feeling?"

"No, just a bit sore." Keith picked up the glass and took a long drink of the water. He caught Lance trying to hide a smirk and frowned. "What is it?"

"Should we tell him?" Lance didn't wait for any answers before he pulled a mirror out from somewhere and held it up to Keith's face. "You look like a skunk!"

Keith frowned before turning his attention to the mirror Lance was shoving at him. His eyes widened a bit when he saw the white streak of hair in his bangs. He reached up and ran his fingers through the section before giving a shrug. "I like it. It's the same color as Shiro's."

Pidge snorted with laughter. "I told you he'd say that!"

Lance pouted and pulled the mirror back, then winked at his own reflection first before putting it back into his pocket. "So cheesy."

Keith started to eat while the others talked about what had been going on while he'd been healing the past two weeks. They had made a lot of progress with the tower and had learned that it was not actually a tower at all, but a ship. A ship that was even bigger than the Atlas. Pidge talked about all the technical stuff about it and what she, Slav, and her bother have been working on. Lance talked about the cool things he'd been learning in regards to fighting and hunting from the Felari. Hunk was over the moon at learning about new food and getting recipes from the tribe as well.

"Keith, I know that you are worried about Shiro, but we could really use your help." Allura had sat down at the foot of the bed while they had been talking. "The portal is open again and we can come and go as we need to. The recovery efforts are still going strong and well, but we have come across a large Gala stronghold and we'll need Voltron to take it down."

Keith absolutely did not want to leave the tower-ship. What if Shiro returned while he was away? What if something happened here and he could have helped. He could see the way Allura was looking at him and knew she knew exactly what he would be thinking. He shut his eyes for a moment and took a few deep breaths to get himself to calm down and focus. As much as he wanted to stay here for Shiro, he couldn't abandon his duty when so many others still needed saving. He knew Shiro would be disappointed in him if he stayed.

"Alright, I'll go."

Relief washed over all of their faces at his words. "Great. We'll start getting things ready for the mission and we can leave tomorrow if you feel up to it. The Blades have been keeping an eye on things so if you need another day or two instead, we can do that."

Keith shook his head, "No, tomorrow should be fine. I recover quickly...most of the time."

Allura nodded. "Yes, I believe it's thanks to your Galra heritage that you were able to survive that energy blast. Your body repairs itself at an incredible rate. After eating and resting some more, you will heal even faster." She got up from the bed and leaned over to kiss his forehead. "I'm so happy you pulled through. Now, I have to get back to the castle to start planning"

"I'll go with you." Lance said and gave Keith a thumbs up before he followed Allura out the door.

"I'll bring this stuff back to the kitchen and then join you later." Hunk picked up the remains of Keith's meal and looked at Pidge. "See you on the castle?"

Pidge nodded as Hunk also left. She once again threw her arms around Keith and hugged him again. "Don't ever do that to me again."

This time Keith hugged her more firmly. "I'm really sorry for worrying you, Pidge."

"What you did was stupid and irresponsible! Never get that close or touch energy like that. You're lucky you weren't blasted into pieces!" She pulled away from him suddenly and got up. "Don't come to the castle tomorrow unless you get your strength back!" Pidge then turned and stomped out of the room leaving Keith to stare after her with wide eyes.

Krolia chuckled as she entered the room as the last of her son's friends left. "They all were extremely worried about you, especially the little one. She saw it happen after all."

Keith let his eyes fall closed in took in a long shuddering breath. He'd never been this close to dying before and while it did scare him, he was even more afraid for Shiro. Was he in pain where he was? Is he even still alive? He couldn't stop the tears that finally slid down his cheeks. He didn't open his eyes when he felt his mother sit beside him and allowed her to brush her fingers through his hair.

"I may have only just met Shiro, but I know that he is strong and loves you deeply. I have no doubt that he will be fighting with all his might to get back to you." Krolia leaned forward and kissed her son's forehead. "Now rest. You are going to be busy for awhile and the others need you." she got up and headed for the door, pausing when Keith spoke.

"Thanks, mom. I'm glad you're here."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now."

After leaving Keith's room, Krolia headed down to the crystal chamber where Slav and Matt were constantly working. When she got there she found Matt passed out face first on the floor and Slav writing notes rapidly as he listened to some kind of radio. She eyed the large crystal as she entered the chamber, not liking the way it made her fur stand on end or the unease she felt when around it, but she wanted to stay as up to date as possible because she knew Keith would want to know if there was even the slightest change.

Matt woke up when she got close to him, probably due to his time in the field with the resistance, and rolled over onto his back with a groan. "How's he doing?"

"Health wise he is fine, but he is worried about his mate. He's probably going to try and sneak down here later when he thinks everyone is asleep."

"Ha, the jokes on him that we don't sleep!" Matt got to his feet and wobbled a bit, obviously still exhausted, the dark bags under his eyes showing as much.

"So that wasn't you who was just snoring when I came in then?" Krolia smirked a bit.

"It was just a cat nap. There's no way I could actually fall asleep next to this thing. The whole room is vibrating and humming." Matt stretched his arms over his head before walking over to the small table that had been brought in for them and sat down with his tablet. "I wish we had better news for him. We've been picking up some sort of signal but it's so distorted and broken up that we can't make anything of it yet." he signaled over his shoulder to where Slav was working.

"I am sure that Keith appreciates everything that you are doing, but please make sure to get proper sleep and eat. You won't do anyone any good if you end up in a healing pod."

"Aaah, so close!" Slav suddenly shouted making the other two in the room. "Just a little bit more...there!"

"Did you get it to clear?!" Matt jumped to his feet and ran over to yank the headphones off of Slav's head and held it up to his ear. The sounds of the Be Bo Show met his ears and he scowled. "Why are you listening to this garbage right now?"

Slav yanked them back. "It is the first time I've gotten any kind of clear signal!"

"You're making a lot of fuss for picking up a radio show." Krolia frowned.

"You do not understand. It is a simple radio show yes, but not from our reality!" Slav fiddled with some knobs and wrote down a bunch more numbers onto his data pad. "I think I hear another one but I haven't been able to get the right frequency."

Matt unplugged the headphones so he could hear the sounds as well. He leaned over to turn up the volume and bumped Slav which in turn made him bump other knobs.

"Keith, where-" a voice cut through the static clear as day but only for a second before the knob continued turning.

"Wait, go back! I think I just heard Shiro!"

The two of them scrambled with the knobs but no batter how they turned them they were unable to pick up the voice again. Even though they couldn't find the right frequency again, Matt seemed to have perked up and became more determined.

"Do me a favor and do not mention this to Keith when he sneaks down here tonight. I don't want to get his hopes up just yet and he's getting ready to leave for an important mission he needs to focus on." Both Matt and Slav nodded but they didn't look at her. Matt did give her a thumbs up to confirm that he heard her. "Thank you."

Throughout the day people popped in here or there to talk with Keith or to bring him food or drink if he asked for it. They never stayed too long because he needed proper rest still, but he was thankful. Having others to talk to kept him from focusing too much on Shiro and ended up a mess. When Pidge said good-bye for the night and the door had shut behind her, Keith had wasted no time in getting out of bed. He'd been getting up here or there to test his strength and he was now confident that he would be able to walk with no issue, even if a bit slow going. He waited ten more minutes before he left his room to head down to the crystal chamber.

He was surprised to find the door unlocked when he reached it but not surprised to find Matt sleeping at the control panel, a pair of headphones on that would block out any sounds Keith would make. Slav was thankfully nowhere to be seen. He made his way over to the large crystal in the middle of the room and got as close to it as he dared. His hands clenched in anger as he glared at it, wanting to yell at it to bring Shiro back, but not wanting to wake up Matt. When his mother had stopped by again before she'd headed to bed she'd said that there was nothing new to report on their progress. Something told him she was hiding something and he was determined to find out what.

Keith turned his back on the still brightly glowing crystal and moved to where Matt was at the console. He looked over the notes spread around in front of him that contained rows and rows of numbers. Some of them had notes next to them, one mentioning something about a radio show, and others with an 'S' beside it. Looking back at Matt he frowned. What were they listening for and what did it have to do with finding Shiro or a way to open a door to another reality? He reached out and as carefully as he could removed the headphones from Matt. The other stirred for a moment and snorted but did not wake.

Keith put the headphones on and winced at the high pitched sound he was hearing along with the staticy sound in the background to that. He thought he heard words every now and then but it was too unclear to make out. He leaned forward to take a closer look at the knobs which all had different numbers on them. It looked like the radio his dad used to have and would use to listen to local pilot chatter. He reached out to a random knob and began to turn it slowly trying to get something to come in. After fiddling around with them for about ten minutes he figured out what the numbers on the papers meant. They were all the frequencies that had been tried so far and their results. Keith found the most recent one and adjusted to go to the next one in the sequence.

Static.

He made a note and then turned the knob again.

Humming.

He repeated his actions again and again until he'd filled up a page. Deciding to try one last time, he turned the knob and held his breath.

Nothing. Just the same static and humming as before. Discouraged, he removed the headphones and set them aside. He let out his breath before taking a deep one and slowly letting it out.

"Hey, why don't you go to bed?" Keith asked after he shook Matt awake. "You're going to be hurting later if you sleep hunched over the console like this."

"She was ri-" Matt's words were cut off by a yawn. "She said you were going to sneak down here. I'm glad I didn't put a bet on it."

Keith blinked at him for a moment before he realized who he was speaking about. Of course his mother would know he was going to sneak out. She probably didn't say anything to him about it because she knew it would do it anyway.

"Come on, let's get you to bed." Keith slung an arm around Matt's waist and hoisted him up out of the chair. "Which room are you in?"

"Mmble." his head drooped down to land on Keith's shoulder, eyes falling shut, and leaning more heavily against him. "Across from yours." he finally slurred out as they shuffled out the door and into the hall.

It took a few minutes to get there considering Keith was still weak and Matt was apparently so exhausted at this point that he could barely support himself. Keith finally got frustrated enough that he scooped him up and carried him down the hall like a bride. Sleepy Matt burst into giggles and made jokes about being Keith's wife and then said that they had to stop or Shiro would get jealous.

Once inside of Matt's room, Keith dropped him onto the bed in a heap, or tired to at least. Matt had a firm grip around him for someone who was barely awake and he ended up pulling Keith down to the bed with him. Keith landed on top of the other man with a 'oomph!' and sprawled across him. After a short wrestling match, Keith was able to escape Matt's arms and legs and moved away from the bed.

"Go to sleep you idiot." he said with a scowl before sighing and laughing a bit. He would have to ask Pidge in the morning if her brother was always this clingy when tired.

Once Matt was safely tucked into his bed, Keith left and headed back to the crystal room. Slav still was not there which was a relief. Keith sat down in the chair Matt had been in and pulled the headphones on.


	11. One Year Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year had gone by since Shiro had vanished and people were starting to lose hope that they'd see him again. Except for Keith of course. Then one day...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the last chapter! I do have another part planned and if people want it enough I can start work on it so I can share. Just let me know in the comments if you liked this and want more of this verse!

"Shiro!" Keith bolted upright with a gasp and clutched his chest as he awoke from the same nightmare he'd been having for a year now. Today was a year to the day that Shiro had disappeared and it still hurt like it had just happened. He wiped the tears off his cheeks and flopped back down into the grass. He had been taking a break and must have fallen asleep.

He and the other Paladins along with the Blade of Marmora were on Earth helping to finish building the main structures and housing at the new Galaxy Garrison. They had been working at other Garrisons around the world but this was the largest and so took the longest for repairs to be completed. Keith had been spending most of his time here helping to rebuild even though it had not felt like home to him in a long time. He had even renovated his dad's old shack into a more suitable cabin now and stayed there whenever he could.

"There you are. I was beginning to worry you'd taken off without a word again." a soft female voice spoke from behind the tree Keith was laying next to. Allura came into view a second later, a bottle of water in her hand. She frowned down at him. "I knew it. Keith, what have I told you about making sure you stay hydrated?" she dropped the bottle and it bounced off his chest.

"Yeah, I know." he muttered as he sat up and twisted off the bottle top. "Thanks." he chugged half of it before closing it and setting it aside. He could feel her eyes on him still but he couldn't bring himself to look at her. He already knew why she was here.

"I came looking for you for more than making you drink something." She waited until Keith was looking up at her before she smiled widely. "Pidge got a call from Matt and Slav. There is new activity with the crystal and they are pretty sure they heard Shiro's voice on the radio."

Keith was on his feet so quickly that Allura had to take a few steps back to avoid getting knocked over.

Everyone was excited about the news and so all of the Paladins got in their lions and returned to the castle which then wormholed them to their destination. The Black Lion had barely touched the ground before Keith was jumping down out of the mouth and running for the entrance to the tower. With the help of the Alkari, access was much easier than it used to be and so he made it inside and down to the crystal chamber in record time, the others following after but giving him space.

"Is it Shiro?" Keith asked as soon as he burst through the door.

"Hello Keith, nice to see you too. I'm doing great, thanks for asking." Matt replied with a laugh, still facing his console.

"Sorry, hello. It's been a few months, huh?"

"Yup." Matt said popping the 'p' and swiveled around in his chair to face Keith. "We got a clear channel. We are positive that the voice we've been hearing is Shiro. The only word we were making out before was 'home' but yesterday...we heard your name."

Keith blinked. "My name?" he looked towards the crystal which was glowing brightly then dimming then glowing again like a pulse. "Is that supposed to be happening?"

"The power has been fluctuating like crazy the past few days sending out more power than the systems can handle. I'm glad Ryner and the others are here to help or the systems would have been completely fried and probably irreparable. Slav also left once they arrived, thank god. He was driving me crazy."

"Oh don't sell yourself short, Matt. You and Dr. Slav had things well under control by the time we arrived." A familiar Alkari approached Keith and gave him a hug. "It is good to see you again Paladin Keith." Ryner greeted with a smile.

"You too. How have you all settled in here?"

"We like this planet very much as it is similar to Alkarion and New Alkarion. Then there is this strange tower that has us all baffled but very excited. It has been quite some time since we have seen tech that rivals ours. It has been fun working with Matt on trying to decipher how it works." The crystal flared up and she turned to look at it. "That has been happening at regular intervals now. We think that-"

Before she could finish speaking the whole room light up so brightly that everyone had to over their eyes. The humming that was always there became loud for a moment where they had to also cover their ears. Just as suddenly everything went dark and silent before things returned to their normal levels.

"Keith?" a weak voice called from behind them.

Keith whirled around with wide eyes to find Shiro there lying on the floor. "Shiro!" he ran over to his mate, dropped to his knees, and pulled Shiro into his arms. "Shiro, Shiro!" he started covering his face in kisses before finally kissing his mouth. Shiro returned it though a bit weak. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Shiro reached up and cupped Keith's face with a hand. "I will be fine. I've missed you." he pulled his mate's face down to his and gave him a light kiss before resting their foreheads together.

There was a light cough from behind them and Keith looked over his shoulder to see Matt holding out the blanket he kept near his console when working late nights. Keith frowned for a moment before looking back at Shiro and taking in his appearance fully. His hair had grown out so it was now past his shoulders, a light scruff covered his jawline, and he was completely naked. Keith took the blanket and quickly wrapped it around Shiro to hide him from view even if Shiro himself didn't have such embarrassment about nudity. Keith then helped Shiro slowly get to his feet and kept a hand tight around his waist to keep him from falling, and to keep him close.

"Matt, it's good to see you." Shiro said with a nod at the familiar face. He then looked at the others with curiosity.

"Shiro, this is Ryner. She's a scientist like Matt. She and the others here are a race called Alkari."

Shiro held out his hand to Ryner who took it and gave her a big smile. "It is nice to have a name to go with the voice."

She blinked. "You could hear me?"

He nodded. "Yes, a little. The others as well, but mostly you. I tried calling out to you but you didn't seem to have heard me."

"We heard bits and pieces but nothing really clear until recently." Matt confirmed.

"Can we talk more about this later? I want to get Shiro some clothes and probably food and rest."

"Of course. We will all still be here if you need us." Ryner said with an understanding nod and smile.

Keith led Shiro down the hall to the room he made his own and eased him down so he could sit on the bed. Once again he pulled Shiro into a tight embrace and buried his face into his mates neck. He took in deep lungfuls of air as he took in Shiro's scent that he missed so much. It wasn't long before his lips found skin and Shiro's head was falling back on a pleased sigh.

When Keith stopped moving a moment later and was just holding him, Shiro frowned. He could feel him trembling and hear his breathing coming out uneven.

"Keith, what's wrong?"

"A year. I've been without you for a year." his arms tightened around Shiro even more, so much so that it made it a bit harder for Shiro to breathe but didn't complain.

"Oh baby, I'm sorry." Shiro leaned back enough to tip Keith's face up so he could look at him. "I was doing everything I could to get back but..." he shook his head. "I didn't realize it had been that long. Time...didn't make sense where I was."

"Where were you?"

A dark look passed over Shiro's face for a moment. "I was in a nightmare. I don't want to talk about it right now."

He pulled away from Keith and when the other gave him a panicked look, he leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. He then stood up and pulled the blanket off letting it fall to the floor, standing before Keith in all his naked glory. He watched as Keith's gaze moved over him slowly and full of hunger and Keith's arousal scented the air. Shiro's body stirred at it and he couldn't help the soft whine the escaped his throat.

"Sh-Shiro, you need to eat something and then get rest. I want to make sure that you are healthy." Keith's hands were clenched in the blanket under him and there was a noticeable bulge in his pants.

Shiro smiled fondly. Even when he was this excited Keith was still worried about his mate's well being over his own satisfaction. He loved him even more for it.

Shiro moved forward and placed a hand against Keith's chest and pushed, smiling as he went down with no resistance, then he crawled up so he straddled his lover's hips. He leaned down and brushed his lips teasingly over Keith's in a phantom of a kiss. Keith actually whimpered a bit but he kept his hands to himself, not taking what he wanted even when it was being offered freely to him.

"The only thing I need right now is to feel my mate deep inside of me, claiming me." Shiro ground his ass down against Keith's hard cock through his pants making them both groan. He was already slick with want and was leaving a noticeable dampness on Keith's pants. "Please, Keith, I need you." his voice had fallen soft and his need was audible.

Keith reached up and pulled Shiro's face down to his with a growl and kissed him hungrily. His hands moved to Shiro's hips before sliding down and squeezing his ass as he ground up into him. He rolled them over so Shiro was under him and his kiss turned lighter before he pulled away. He stood from the bed and simply looked down at Shiro, taking in every detail as if it were the first time seeing him before he started to strip out of his clothes.

When Keith lay back down over him, Shiro was expecting hot, heavy, and desperate but that is not what he got. Instead, Keith began peppering him in soft kisses while his hands caressed his arms and chest slowly and softly. His fingers followed the lines of his muscles, dipping and rising with each one, and still remaining light enough that it was driving Shiro mad. Keith's mouth moved over the bond mark and he pressed a light kiss to it making Shiro cry out and press up into him, but Keith's mouth continued on until he was pressing kisses into Shiro's shoulder.

"Please, Keith." Shiro whimpered then cried out again when Keith started rubbing and pinching his nipples. "More. I need-"

"Shh." Keith cut him off with a kiss. "It's okay Shiro, I've got you."

Keith's mouth followed the lines of Shiro's stripes down his body while his hands found purchase on Shiro's waist and held him down against the mattress. His lips brushed over Shiro's bellybutton and he looked up at him while his tongue dipped inside. He held Shiro down firmly as he tried to thrust up and he couldn't help but chuckle a bit. He pressed a kiss on his hard stomach before licking across a stripe to nip at a hip. His tongue dipped into the deep crease there and he began to suck a dark mark into his skin. He knew it was one of Shiro's weak points and he groaned as he heard the string of moans and curses that started pouring out of Shiro. Wanting to reward him a bit, Keith brought a hand up and dragged a finger up Shiro's hard length, pressing it down into his stomach so that precum dripped onto his skin. While still keeping eye contact, Keith trailed kisses across hot skin to lap up the small puddle there before giving a barely there lick to Shiro's cockhead.

"Keith!"

"You're so beautiful, Shiro." Keith said after lifting his head to look up at his mate. He took a deep breath and inhaled Shiro's scent and his dick twitched from how strong his need was. He watched as Shiro's cock dripped another puddle of precum and he immediately leaned down to lick it up. "Gods I've missed your taste." He shifted a bit so he could drop lower and began nipping at Shiro's thick thigh.

Shiro finally moved his hands from where they had been gripping onto the blankets and buried them instead in Keith's hair. They squeezed tightly but he did not pull or guide Keith's head in any way.

"Are you just going to keep teasing me?" Shiro asked with a huff as he watched Keith suck a mark into his thigh.

"Mm, not teasing you." His lips barely left Shiro's skin as he spoke, his mouth now sliding around to the back of Shiro's knee. "You were gone a year. I'm not going to stop until I've kissed every part of you to make sure you are okay."

Shiro chuckled. "Can't you do that later? " his tail moved to wrap around one of Keith's wrists and tried to guide his hand up between his legs where he wanted it. "I know you want to fuck me as much as I want it. You don't need to hold back. I wish you wouldn't."

Keith just hummed again and let Shiro's leg go to pick up his other one. This time his kisses started at Shiro's foot and slowly made their way up to his thighs. He stopped after placing another mark on Shiro's other hip before he sat up on his knees with a smile. He grabbed a pillow and Shiro immediately raised his hips so he could slide it under him. Keith placed a hand on each of Shiro's thighs and pushed them up until they were almost to Shiro's chest.

"Keep them up and open for me?"

Shiro nodded vigorously and then bit his lip as he watched Keith lower his head down and down until he reached his goal. Shiro nearly jolted off the bed, and would have if Keith wasn't holding his hips down, at the first touch of his tongue pressing against his hole. Shiro was already trembling and this made it so much worse.

Keith was giving Shiro long and slow licks with just enough pressure he could feel them but not enough to amount to anything. Very slowly he started to increase the pressure of his tongue every time it passed over Shiro's leaking hole. On the next pass he covered it and sucked hard, causing more slick to come out, and groaned loudly as Shiro's taste filled his mouth and slick coated his chin. Shiro was a gasping and shuddering mess over him but he was being good and holding his legs up and open. He looked up at Shiro and as soon as Shiro opened his eyes and met his gaze, Keith pointed his tongue and pressed inside.

"F-fuck! Yes, fuck!" Shiro's chest heaved on a sob and he did his best to press down onto Keith's tongue.

Keith's hands moved and slid under Shiro so that he could lift his ass more to get a better angle. "Keep watching me, Shiro. I want you to see just how much I enjoy the taste of you."

Shiro's head fell back on a long groan for a moment before he lifted it again so he could watch what Keith was doing. Keith's face was flushed red and it went down his neck. While his pupils were more narrow now, they were blown wide with arousal and every breath he let out was a groan or a growl. His tongue pressed long and deep strokes into him stretching him a bit and lapping up as much slick as he could. When he lifted his head, Shiro could see his slick coating the lower half of Keith's face and while most would probably find it disgusting, it was incredibly sexy to him. His did twitched and let out another drop of precum and he rolled his hips wanting Keith to continue.

Keith lowered Shiro back down onto the pillow but his mouth did not stop, it only changed positions. His mouth descended on Shiro's cock all the way down until his nose was being tickled by the short fur at the base. As his mouth went down, he slipped a finger inside Shiro and began to pump it in time with his mouth. The pace was slow and not meant to get Shiro off but to make him feel good and relax. When he was just about to beg again, Keith stopped and looked down at him.

"Shiro..." Keith's voice was soft and his gaze was loving as he leaned up and forward to give Shiro a kiss. "You ready for me?"

Shiro huffed, "I've been ready for you from the beginning!" he returned the kiss a gave a nod in consent knowing Keith would not move otherwise. "Yes, please, I need you so bad."

Keith gave him another kiss before sitting back so he could see to line himself up with Shiro's entrance. He pressed in slowly and easily thanks to the slick and they both groaned when he bottomed out. Keith let out a shuddering breath and leaned forward again to drop his head to Shiro's shoulder. They stayed like that for a moment as they adjusted and re-familiarized the feel of each other. Keith took a few deep breaths to calm himself down so he could make this last for as long as possible. When Shiro whimpered and rocked his hips a bit, he started in at a slow and shallow pace.

"I've missed you. So much." Keith panted against Shiro's jaw as he rocked into him. "Missed being close like this, feeling you tight around me."

Shiro groaned and his head fell to the side in submission as Keith's mouth moved down to suck and nip at his neck. "Missed you too. I was starting to go crazy thinking that I'd never see you again." his hips rocked down trying to get Keith to go deeper and faster but the other still held back. "Please, I need more. I want to feel it. I need to feel alive."

When Keith raised his head to look at him then, he saw pain in Shiro's eyes and frowned. He knew it wasn't from what they were doing now but what had happened while Shiro was gone. He knew he'd get no answers now and so instead he started pushing in deeper until he was bottoming out every time. He still kept his movements slow even when Shiro wrapped his legs around his waist and tried to increase the speed himself. He changed his angle a bit until Shiro was crying out on each thrust as his prostate was stroked.

Shiro's hands moved to grip Keith's back and pulled him tightly against himself. It made it harder for them to move but neither wanted to separate. Shiro ran his hands up and down Keith's back, whispering words of love into his ear and encouragement as they continued to make slow and passionate love.

When Shiro started moaning on every thrust and his breathing became more erratic, Keith slid a hand down between them to wrap a firm hand around Shiro's cock. He stroked down on every thrust in and slid his hand up with a twist on every draw out. Shiro started clenching around Keith's cock and then his whole body was arching off the bed as he came hard, his release coating his stomach, chest, underside of his jaw, and Keith's hand. Keith removed his hand when it became too much and his thrusts became more shallow again.

"No, baby, please." Shiro tightened his legs around Keith's waist even more and tried to pull him deeper again. "Deep inside me. I want to feel you."

Keith groaned against Shiro's neck and nodded and his thrust became deeper again. A hand moved to Shiro's hip and squeezed hard as he rocked erratically as he neared his release while the other was tangled in white locks and holding Shiro's head back while his mouth attacked his neck. With a deep groan that was more growl, Keith sunk his teeth deep into the bond mark as he spilled his seed deep inside Shiro.

"That's it, give me everything you have." Shiro encouraged as he rocked with Keith, feeling the heat searing inside of him as spurt after spurt filled him. He then cried out in surprise as he felt himself being stretched even more than before. "Mm? Baby, is that?" Shiro clenched around the intrusion and Keith choked out a loud moan.

Keith gave a full body shudder before collapsing on top of Shiro, too tired to try and hold himself up. Thankfully his mate could support his weight easily.

The sound of heavy breathing filled the small room as the two of them caught their breath and their senses returned. Keith lifted his head to look at Shiro and his face was scarlet. "I'm sorry. I...I forgot that happens now. It's still new."

Shiro shifted a bit and a small wave of pleasure shot through him at feeling Keith's knot locking them together. "No need to apologize, I was just surprised." He ran his hand over Keith's cheek and gave him a kiss. "I take this to mean more of your Galra traits have been coming through?"

Keith gave a nod. "Yeah, it was a bit embarrassing when it first happened. I thought I had caught an alien disease or something. That was a very awkward conversation to have with my mother."

Shiro let out a loud laugh. "I bet it was." his hand slid down between them and brushed his fingers over the area where they were joined. Keith gave a startled groan and shuddered as another wave of release was pulled from him and pumped into Shiro. Shiro gave a moan of his own as a thought occurred to him. He leaned forward so he could nip at Keith's pointed ear. "Does this mean you have ruts now too?" Keith nodded. "And it also means that you'll be able to help me more with my heats? My alpha."

At the word alpha Keith's hips thrust forward on their own. "Sh-Shiro, don't say things like that!"

"Why not? It's what you are. Mine. My alpha. My mate." Shiro grinned at the noises Keith made and how they slowly turned into whimpers, his hips rocking slowly as much as he could while they were still locked together. "It's alright, Keith. I can give you as much as you need, whenever you need it."

Keith needed much more and as soon as he could move again, they continued to make love until neither had the energy to move anymore. They stayed as close together as possible with their arms and legs wrapped around each other and their foreheads touching.

Keith gave Shiro a light kiss but one that held deep meaning behind it. "I love you Shiro."

"I love you too, Keith and I will until the galaxy fades away into nothing. Then I will love you longer."


End file.
